Zinc pyrithione (ZP) is commonly used to prevent dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis. Many consumers are exposed daily to high doses of ZP, causing serious concerns about its toxicity. The reproductive and developmental toxicities were previously reported in pregnant rats. However, the estrogenic activity of ZP at varying degrees of exposure has been rarely studied. Thus, we performed an uterotr...

Secreted frizzled related protein 1 (sFRP1) is a modulator of Wnt signaling. Recently, aberrations of Wnt signaling were reported to be involved in the pathology of various human neoplasms. We investigated the expression and function of sFRP1 in uterine leiomyomas. Secreted FRP1 expression was increased in leiomyomas, compared with normal myometrium using Northern and Western blot analyses. Exp...

Salvia miltiorrhiza bunge(SM) is a popular herb for alleviating menopausal symptoms, although the scientific evidence of applying SM to estrogen replacement therapy is limited. In this study, we characterized the estrogenic activity of SM using in vivo models of immature and ovariectomized (OVX) mice and performed in vitro studies focusing on the estrogen receptor (ER) pathway for further molec...

The effect of petroleum ether (60-80 C), ethanol and aqueous extracts of Datura stramonium Linn. leaves on the estrous cycle were studied and identify the estrogenic activity of active ethanol extract in female albino rats. After the oral acute toxicity study, plant extracts were administered at two dose levels: 200 and 400 mg/kg, respectively. Ethanol extract at a dose of 200 mg/kg has increas...

Bisphenol A (BPA), a monomer of plastic used in consumer products, is abundant in the environment and enters the body by ingestion or adsorption. We developed a cell based transcription assay system using a reporter gene under the transcriptional control of estrogen receptor a (ERa) as well as ER~3 and performed chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) assay on HeLa cells transfected with either...

Glyphosate is an active ingredient of the most widely used herbicide and it is believed to be less toxic than other pesticides. However, several recent studies showed its potential adverse health effects to humans as it may be an endocrine disruptor. This study focuses on the effects of pure glyphosate on estrogen receptors (ERs) mediated transcriptional activity and their expressions. Glyphosa...

Benomyl is a benzimidazole fungicide that has been widely used on a variety of food crops and ornamental plants. It is known to cause adverse effects on reproductive systems, including decreased testicular and epididymal weights and reduced epididymal sperm counts and fertility. The brain aromatase gene is up-regulated by estrogens and estrogen mimics and considered a target gene to screen estr...

Phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase (PHGPx), an antioxidative selenoprotein, is modulated by estrogen in the testis and oviduct. To examine whether potential endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) affect the microenvironment of the testes, the expression patterns of PHGPx mRNA and histological changes were analyzed in 5-week-old Sprague-Dawley male rats exposed to several EDCs such...

Estrogen plays an essential role in the growth and maturation of the mammalian oocyte, and recent studies suggest that it also influences follicle formation in the neonatal ovary. In the course of studies designed to assess the effect of the estrogenic chemical bisphenol A (BPA) on mammalian oogenesis, we uncovered an estrogenic effect at an even earlier stage of oocyte development--at the onse...

Previous work in our laboratory showed that o,p'-DDT increases the frequency of rat uterine contractions in vitro. The present study investigated whether this response was related to prostaglandin E 2 (PGE2) release from the uterine strips or to the estrogenicity of o,p'-DDT. Contraction frequency was evaluated by recording isometric spontaneous contractions in longitudinal uterine strips from ...