Effects of Octylphenol Biodegradation and Toxicity in Biological Systems

Abstract

In industrialized countries, many researches have highlighted a correlation between the presence of octylphenol in different plastics or detergents and its estrogenic effect. The metabolism of alkylphenols (4-n-octylphenol and 4-tert-octylphenol) is depending on alkyl chain and at testicular level act as endocrine disruptions. The purpose of our work was to evaluate the octylphenol effect on the testicular morphological changes in mice. Our experiment was performed on adult mice, divided into three experimental groups of 5 individuals each, respectively: control group (C -untreated); the vehicle group (V) treated with ethanol and corn oil mixt (1:10); and experimental group (E - treated with octylphenol in concentrations of 80 mg / kg body weight). Octylphenol is a pollutant that has to be monitoring because our study showed a decrease in male fertility due to morphological alterations as a result of exposure to a series of hormone mimetic molecules. Animals exposed to octylphenol presented morphological changes at the testicular level manifested disorganization of the seminiferous epithelium, hypertrophic and hypereosinophilic spermatocytes, presence of apoptotic bodies, as well as the diffuse hyperplasia of the Leydig interstitial cells, proving that octylphenol negative influences the male fertility.

Influence of Iron Administration on Kidney Serum Parameters

“…Some of the heavy metals are essential for living organisms, but in large quantities, they are accumulated in tissues and cells, being able to change the oxidative status leading to oxidative stress allowing the formation of toxic products for the cell. These products could inactivate some enzymes, could damage the proteins and nucleic acids or could allow lipid peroxidation with the formation of free radicals which are very reactive and toxic [24][25][26][27][28][29].…”

Effect of Lead Toxicity on the Structure and Function of Organs in Rats

“…For overall diagnosis of each case the Masson Trichrome staining was performed [8]. For the kidney tissue, the Hematoxiline-Eosine stain was used (HE) [9][10][11]. Histological sections were examined under a Nikon Eclipse TE2000-U microscope.…”

New Research about the Effect of Octylphenol (4-tOP) on Histological Structure of Testis in Mice

“…The effects of endocrine disruptors on health are manifested by alteration of growth function, of development, behavior, production, unbalance the use of storage energy, hemodynamics and blood circulation, but it also affects sexual function and thus, reproduction. These disturbances are more serious as they occur in the early stages of development [6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. In addition, endocrine disruptors can induce hermaphroditism [13][14][15] and may exert direct genetic effects [2,[16][17][18][19][20], which is particularly worrying because it can lead to a number of genetic diseases [21].…”