Urinary, Circulating, and Tissue Biomonitoring Studies Indicate Widespread Exposure to Bisphenol A / Estudos de biomonitoração do sistema urinário, circulatório e tecidos indicam grande exposição ao Bisfenol A

Bisphenol A (BPA) is one of the highest-volume chemicals produced worldwide, and human exposure to BPA is thought to be ubiquitous. Thus, there are concerns that the amount of BPA to which humans are exposed may cause adverse health effects. We examined many possibilities for why biomonitoring and toxicokinetic studies could come to seemingly conflicting conclusions. More than 80 published human biomonitoring studies that measured BPA concentrations in human tissues, urine, blood, and other fluids, along with two toxicokinetic studies of human BPA metabolism were examined. Unconjugated BPA was routinely detected in blood (in the nanograms per milliliter range), and conjugated BPA was routinely detected in the vast majority of urine samples (also in the nanograms per milliliter range). In stark contrast, toxicokinetic studies proposed that humans are not internally exposed to BPA. Available data from biomonitoring studies clearly indicate that the general population is exposed to BPA and is at risk from internal exposure to unconjugated BPA. The two toxicokinetic studies that suggested human BPA exposure is negligible have significant deficiencies, are directly contradicted by hypothesis-driven studies, and are therefore not reliable for risk assessment purposes.

Bisfenol A (BPA) é um dos produtos químicos mais produzido em todo o mundo, e a exposição humana a ele é considerada onipresente. Assim, há preocupações de que a quantidade de BPA para o qual os seres humanos estão expostos podem causar efeitos adversos à saúde. Nós examinamos muitas possibilidades sobre o porquê estudos de biomonitorização e toxicocinética podem chegar a conclusões aparentemente conflitantes. Mais de 80 estudos publicados de biomonitorização humana que mediram a concentração de BPA em tecidos humanos, urina, sangue e outros fluidos, juntamente com dois estudos de toxicocinética do metabolismo humano BPA foram examinados. BPA não conjugado foi detectado no sangue (nonanogramas por mililitro gama), e BPA conjugado foi detectado na grande maioria das amostras de urina. Em contraste, estudos de toxico-cinética propuseram que os seres humanos não são internamente expostos ao BPA. Dados disponíveis de estudos de biomonitorização indicam que a população em geral está exposta ao BPA e em risco de exposição interna ao BPA não conjugado. Os dois estudos de toxicocinética, que sugeriram a exposição humana ao BPA é insignificante, têm deficiências significativas e estão diretamente refutados por outros estudos e, portanto não são confiáveis para fins de avaliação de risco.

Prenatal testosterone treatment alters LH and testosterone responsiveness to GnRH agonist in male sheep

Although evidence is accumulating that prenatal testosterone (T) compromises reproductive function in the female, the effects of excess T in utero on the postnatal development of male reproductive function has not been studied. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of prenatal T excess on age-related changes in pituitary and gonadal responsiveness to GnRH in the male sheep. We used the GnRH agonist, leuprolide (10 µg/kg), as a pharmacologic challenge at 5, 10, 20 and 30 weeks of age. These time points correspond to early and late juvenile periods and the prepubertal and postpubertal periods of sexual development, respectively. LH and T were measured in blood samples collected before and after GnRH agonist administration. The area under the response curve (AUC) of LH increased progressively in both controls and prenatal T-treated males from 5 to 20 weeks of age (P<0.01). The LH responses in prenatal T-treated males were lower at 20 and 30 weeks of age compared to controls (P<0.05). AUC-T increased progressively in control males from 5 through 30 weeks of age and prenatal T-treated males from 5 to 20 weeks of age. The T response in prenatal T-treated males was higher at 20 weeks compared to controls of same age but similar to controls and prenatal T-treated males at 30 weeks of age (P <0.05). Our findings suggest that prenatal T treatment advances the developmental trajectory of gonadal responsiveness to GnRH in male offspring.