Effects of neonatal administration of diethylstilbestrol in male hamsters: disruption of reproductive function in adults after apparently normal pubertal development
Citation
Khan SA, Ball RB, Hendry WJ 3rd; Effects of neonatal administration of diethylstilbestrol in male hamsters: disruption of reproductive function in adults after apparently normal pubertal development; BIOLOGY OF REPRODUCTION; V.58; P.137-142
Abstract
Prenatal and neonatal exposure to natural and synthetic estrogens induces developmental abnormalities in the male and
female reproductive systems in several species. In hamsters, a
single injection of diethylstilbestrol (DES) on the day of birth
induces teratogenic and neoplastic changes throughout the female reproductive tract, apparently via a direct mechanism. The
present study investigated the extent and specificity of this phenomenon in the male reproductive system. Male golden hamsters received injections of DES or estradiol-17 (E2; 100 jig/
animal) on the day of birth and were then killed at 42 (pubertal)
and 90 (adults) days of age. Blood was collected for serum testosterone analysis, and the testes and accessory organs were
weighed and examined histologically. At the pubertal stage, testicular and accessory organ weights plus serum testosterone levels were similar in untreated animals and in both groups of estrogen-treated animals. Also at the pubertal stage, initiation of
spermatogenesis appeared normal in both groups of estrogentreated animals. In contrast, 100% of the DES-treated animals
(n = 22) but none of the E2-treated animals exhibited multiple
lesions in the reproductive tract as adults. These DES-induced
lesions included cryptorchidism with the testes attached to the
abdominal wall, solid testicular tumors, multiple epididymal
cysts, and involution of accessory organs. Spermatogenesis was
disrupted in the seminiferous tubules, with no developing germ
cells, and the interstitial cells were organized as a sheath around
the dysfunctional tubules. The epididymis had an involuted epithelial layer with a preponderance of multi-nucleated cells, and
seminal vesicle morphology was also abnormal. These DES-specific alterations were not accompanied by any significant
change in circulating testosterone levels. We therefore conclude
that 1) DES is much more potent that E2as a neonatal endocrine
disrupter in the male hamster, and 2) the DES-specific lesions
in the adult male reproductive tract may represent a permanently altered androgen responsiveness in the affected target
tissues.
Description
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URI
http://dx.doi.org/10.1095/biolreprod58.1.137http://www.biolreprod.org/content/58/1/137.long
http://hdl.handle.net/10057/5972