Naslov
Metal toxicity in mammalian reproduction

Autori
Henson, Michael C ; Piasek, Martina ; Chedrese, P Jorge ; Castracane, V Daniel

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Poglavlja u knjigama, znanstveni

Knjiga
Endocrine Toxicology, Third Edition

Urednik/ci
Eldridge, J Charles ; Stevens, James T.

Izdavač
Informa Healthcare

Grad
New York (NY)

Godina
2010

Raspon stranica
256-279

ISBN
978-1-4200-9309-4

Ključne riječi
endocrine disruptors, epigenetic regulators, gonadotropins, mammalian reproduction, metals and metalloids, sex steroids

Sažetak
With respect to mammalian reproduction, the detrimental effects of metals that continue to accumulate in the environment as a result of their escalating production by our increasingly industrialized society are a source of growing concern. Metals and metalloids such as arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, and uranium are clearly associated with reproductive anomalies, while metals such as chromium, copper, manganese, vanadium, etc. have all been identified as potentially damaging to reproductive tissues and/or associated physiological mechanisms in males and/or females. The practically ubiquitous nature of these elements with regard to their availability in air, water, soil, plants, wastes, consumer products, and the food chain make them difficult to accurately quantify with respect to the concentrations commonly available to mammals in the environment. In addition, the different forms that they may assume as free metals, ions bound to disparate environmental carriers, or physiological metabolites, makes it difficult to accurately assess their effects on specific tissues and in specific species. Deleterious reproductive effects may be loosely categorized as those that affect organs of the hypothalamic-hypohyseal-gonadal axis, adult sexual function (spermatogenesis, ovulation, follicle/corpus luteum activity, implantation), the maternal-embryo/fetus unit (transplacental or affecting placental function directly), or maternal-neonate interactions (via breast milk). The serious consequences of direct end organ/tissue effects of toxic metals in adults, as well as during intrauterine development, may be exceeded by the insidious nature of metals acting as endocrine disruptors (EDs) to affect gonadotropins and sex steroids, or as epigenetic regulators affecting transgenerational inheritance and the fetal origins of adult disease. Precise determination of their direct effects on the organs of reproduction or indirectly via associated regulatory mechanisms is further complicated by the potential for interactions with essential elements or other xenobiotics. An added intricacy is that this situation may be exacerbated during times of pronounced physiological stress or change, such as puberty, pregnancy, lactation, or approaching reproductive senescence. In summary, the issues surrounding the range and degrees of interaction of environmental metals and metalloids with mammalian reproduction are complex. The potential for severe harm to human fertility and the reproductive success of future generations should place research in this area at the forefront of the research agenda.//

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Javno zdravstvo i zdravstvena zaštita

Napomena
Chapter in Book (upon invitation).

POVEZANOST RADA