Abstract
As knowledge of contaminants capable of adversely modulating endocrine functions increases, attention is focused on the effects of synthetic progestins as environmental endocrine disrupters. In the present study, effects of exposure to a synthetic progestin (norethindrone, 168 +/- 7.5ng/L) and endogenous progestogen (progesterone, 34 +/- 4.1ng/L) on steroidogenesis in adult female fathead minnows were examined. In vivo exposure to either compound lowered expression (nonsignificant) of luteinizing hormone (LH) levels in the brain along with significantly down-regulating the beta isoform of membrane progesterone receptor (mPR) in ovary tissue. The correspondence between lowered LH levels in the brain and mPR in the ovary is suggestive of a possible functional association as positive correlations between LH and mPR levels have been demonstrated in other fish species. In vitro exposure of ovary tissue to progesterone resulted in significantly elevated progestogen (pregnenolone, 17-hydroxyprogesterone, and 17,20-dihydroxypregnenone) and androgen (testosterone) production. Whereas in vitro exposure to norethindrone did not significantly impact steroid hormone production but showed decreased testosterone production relative to solvent control (however this was not significant). Overall, this study showed that exposure to a natural progestogen (progesterone) and synthetic progestin (norethindrone), was capable of modulating LH (in brain) and mPR expression (in ovary). Environ Toxicol Chem 2014;9999:1-12. (c) 2014 SETAC