Pesticide Exposure Alters Follicle-Stimulating Hormone Levels in Mexican Agricultural Workers

Abstract

Organophosphorous pesticides (OPs) are suspected of altering reproductive function by reducing brain acetylcholinesterase activity and monoamine levels, thus impairing hypothalamic and/or pituitary endocrine functions and gonadal processes. Our objective was to evaluate in a longitudinal study the association between OP exposure and serum levels of pituitary and sex hormones. Urinary OP metabolite levels were measured by gas–liquid chromatography, and serum pituitary and sex hormone levels by enzymatic immunoassay and radioimmunoassay in 64 men. A total of 147 urine and blood samples were analyzed for each parameter. More than 80% of the participants had at least one OP metabolite in their urine samples. The most frequent metabolite found was diethylthiophosphate (DETP; 55%), followed by diethylphosphate (DEP; 46%), dimethylthiophosphate (DMTP; 32%), and dimethyldithiophosphate (DMDTP; 31%). However, the metabolites detected at higher concentrations were DMTP, DEP, DMDTP, and dimethylphosphate. There was a high proportion of individuals with follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) concentrations outside the range of normality (48%). The average FSH serum levels were higher during the heavy pesticide spraying season. However, a multivariate analysis of data collected in all periods showed that serum FSH levels were negatively associated with urinary concentrations of both DMTP and DMDTP, whereas luteinizing hormone (LH) was negatively associated with DMTP. We observed no significant associations between estradiol or testosterone serum levels with OP metabolites. The hormonal disruption in agricultural workers presented here, together with results from experimental animal studies, suggests that OP exposure disrupts the hypothalamic–pituitary endocrine function and also indicates that FSH and LH are the hormones most affected.

Methyl-parathion decreases sperm function and fertilization capacity after targeting spermatocytes and maturing spermatozoa

“…Epidemiological studies have linked exposure to OP (including Me-Pa) with decreased semen quality, increased sperm DNA damage and hormonal imbalance (Padungtod et al, 2000;Recio et al, 2001Recio et al, , 2005Sánchez-Peña et al, 2004). In addition, Me-Pa exposure caused testicular dysfunction (Narayana, 2006), reduced sperm quality (Mathew et al, 1992;Narayana et al, 2005), and increased sperm genetic damage (Narayana et al, 2005;Piña-Guzmán et al, 2006) in laboratory animals.…”

Circulating estradiol in men is inversely related to urinary metabolites of nonpersistent insecticides

“…SG-adjusted TCPY and 1N concentrations were also both lntransformed. Inclusion of covariates was based on statistical and biologic considerations (34). Age and BMI were modeled as a continuous variable, smoking status was dichotomized by current smoker versus never smoked or former smoker, and race was categorized into four groups: white, African American, Hispanic, and other.…”

The Reproductive Health and Liver Functions of Occupationally Exposed Female Pesticide Sprayers of Mango Plantations

“…It also explains the increased number of females complaining of dysfunctional uterine bleeding in those exposed to pesticides [15] showed negative associations between OP exposure and serum levels of FSH and LH in Mexican agricultural workers, but they did not observe significant associations between testosterone or estradiol serum levels and urinary OP metabolites [21] reported that in adult men, an inverse association exists between urinary levels of OP and CB metabolites and serum LH and testosterone levels.…”

“…OPs are suspected to alter reproductive function by reducing brain acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity and secondarily influencing the gonads. Experiments on animals have shown that repeated doses of OP significantly decreased brain AChE activity and significantly increased acetylcholine, gamma-aminobutyric acid, epinephrine, norepinephrine, dopamine, and 5-hydroxyttyptamine concentrations, altering reproductive function by reducing brain acetylcholinesterase activity and monoamine levels, thus impairing hypothalamic and/or pituitary endocrine functions and gonadal processes [15].…”