The objective of this research was to examine the time- and dose- dependent disturbances in the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis of adult male rats administered a potent coplanar (non-ortho) PCB, 3,3',4,4',5-pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB 126). Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were administered a single oral bolus dose of 0, 7.5, 75, or 275 microg PCB 126/kg bw dissolved in corn oil. The rats ...

Treatment of rats with a single oral dose (10–30 mg/kg) of a crude Panax ginseng extract of unknown ginsenoside content has been reported to modestly increase hepatic microsomal cytochrome P450-mediated aminopyrine N-demethylation activity. In the present study, we compared the effect of P. ginseng and Panax quinquefolius extracts on rat hepatic CYP2B1, CYP3A23, and CYP1A2 gene expression. Adul...

Endometriosis is a debilitating disease found in 10-15% of reproductive-age women and is characterized by the presence of endometrial tissue outside of the uterus. The present study characterizes the expression of AhR and ARNT mRNA in a human endometrial explant culture model in the absence and presence of TCDD exposure. In a parallel, companion study using this model, TCDD exposure was shown t...

Accumulation and effects of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in avian species were evaluated at a Superfund site located at Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge (IL, USA). European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) were monitored at nest boxes constructed at each of two study and two reference sites. During the breeding season, starling productivity and adult provisioning behavior were monitored. A...

considerable amounts of different pollutants, especially crude oils, are present in the persian gulf and its northern region, so biomonitoring the effect of these pollutants on its biota is necessary. ethoxyresorufin o-deethylase (erod), gluthathione s-transferase (gst) and catalase (cat) activity were measured from biochemical level in the gills of mudskipper periophthalmus waltoni collected f...

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are immunotoxicants in fish. In mammals, phase I metabolites are believed to be critically involved in the immunotoxicity of PAHs. This mechanism has been suggested for fish as well. The present study investigates the capacity of immune organs (head kidney, spleen) of rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, to metabolize the prototypic PAH, benzo [a]pyrene (B...

Indole-3-carbinol (I3C) inhibits the formation of colonic aberrant crypt foci and DNA adducts in rats given heterocyclic amine colon carcinogens, such as 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline (IQ). Mechanism studies indicate that I3C induces cytochromes P4501A1 and 1A2 (CYP1A1 and CYP1A2), isozymes that respectively metabolize IQ via ring hydroxylation or activate the carcinogen by N-hydroxyl...

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) have been identified in every compartment of the environment and biota due to their widespread use as flame retardants. There is debate over their potential to threaten environmental and human health due to insufficient toxicological information. The weak to moderate binding affinity of PBDE congeners to the Ah receptor (AhR) and the weak induction of EROD...

While contaminant concentrations have been reported for elasmobranchs around the world, no studies have examined bioaccumulation patterns across male and female age classes. The round stingray (Urobatis halleri) is a local benthic species that forages near areas of high organochlorine contamination and represents a good elasmobranch model. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), DDT, and chlordanes w...

We examined a suite of organic and inorganic analytes in a sample of Black-crowned NightHeron (BCNH) embryos collected from a colony located adjacent to Lake Calumet in southeastern Chicago, Illinois, in 2002. Our objectives were to determine whether embryos from the Lake Calumet colony had greater exposure to environmental contaminants, when compared to samples from other contemporary populati...