Experimental Approaches for Characterizing the Endocrine-Disrupting Effects of Environmental Chemicals in Fish

Abstract

Increasing industrial and agricultural activities have led to a disturbing increase of pollutant discharges into the environment. Most of these pollutants can induce short-term, sustained or delayed impacts on developmental, physiological, and behavioral processes that are often regulated by the endocrine system in vertebrates, including fish, thus they are termed endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Physiological impacts resulting from the exposure of these vertebrates to EDCs include abnormalities in growth and reproductive development, as many of the prevalent chemicals are capable of binding the receptors to sex steroid hormones. The approaches employed to investigate the action and impact of EDCs is largely dependent on the specific life history and habitat of each species, and the type of chemical that organisms are exposed to. Aquatic vertebrates, such as fish, are among the first organisms to be affected by waterborne EDCs, an attribute that has justified their wide-spread use as sentinel species. Many fish species are exposed to these chemicals in the wild, for either short or prolonged periods as larvae, adults, or both, thus, studies are typically designed to focus on either acute or chronic exposure at distinct developmental stages. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the approaches and experimental methods commonly used to characterize the effects of some of the environmentally prevalent and emerging EDCs, including 17 α-ethinylestradiol, nonylphenol, BPA, phthalates, and arsenic; and the pervasive and potential carriers of EDCs, microplastics, on reproduction and growth. In vivo and in vitro studies are designed and employed to elucidate the direct effects of EDCs at the organismal and cellular levels, respectively. In silico approaches, on the other hand, comprise computational methods that have been more recently applied with the potential to replace extensive in vitro screening of EDCs. These approaches are discussed in light of model species, age and duration of EDC exposure.

Proteolytic processes in organism of different age rats exposed to xenoestrogens

“…After a while, these pharmaceutical hormones mimic estrogen. Also, there were natural links between endocrine disruptors (EEDs) in the environment and changes in microbial ecology, as well as an increase in the level of resistance of pathogenic organisms to antibiotics, toxicity of the aquatic environment and microorganisms, and a decrease in the resistance of human health [6,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19].…”

Seasonal heterogeneity and a link to precipitation in the release of microplastic during COVID-19 outbreak from the Greater Jakarta area to Jakarta Bay, Indonesia

“…These tiny plastic particles can adsorb other toxic contaminants ( Khalid et al, 2021 ; Liu et al, 2022 ) and attachment media for alien species and pathogens ( Feng et al, 2020 ; Naik et al, 2019 ). Moreover, microplastics can also release certain additive materials ( Celino-Brady et al, 2021 ; Herrera et al, 2022 ). Microplastics may pose a risk to human health because they can migrate through the food supply chain ( Hartmann et al, 2019 ; Wright and Kelly, 2017 ).…”

In Vivo Bioconcentration, Distribution and Metabolization of Benzophenone-3 (BP-3) by Cyprinus carpio (European Carp)

“…Although BP-3 is frequently detected in fresh and marine environments, both in water and biota, the bioaccumulation and biotransformation processes of BP-3 in fish has barely been studied. In recent years, a few studies focused their research activities on understanding the bioaccumulation and effects of BP-3 or other organic UV-filters in various aquatic organisms under laboratory condition: mussels [ 24 , 25 ], corals [ 2 , 26 ], fish [ 27 , 28 ] and swamp crayfish [ 29 ]. Two ways of contamination were approached, waterborne or dietary, using an exposed concentration range of 1–1000 μg/L.…”