RESUMO
Endocrine disrupters have been recognized to interfere with endocrine systems that regulate reproduction, for example, by mimicking or inhibiting the action of endogenous sex steroid hormones including estradiol-17beta (E2). In the present study, we examined the effect of an endocrine disrupter, para-nonylphenol (p-NP) on spermatogenesis, and compared it with the action of E2, using an eel testicular organ culture system. p-NP alone stimulated early spermatogonial renewal in the same manner as E2. Neither induced further progress in spermatogenesis. In the presence of 11-ketotestosterone (11-KT), the major androgen in teleosts, p-NP did not prevent the 11-KT-induced progress in spermatogenesis. However, this treatment enlarged the Sertoli cells. Electron microscopic observation revealed that enlarged Sertoli cells contained well-developed organelles. Moreover, the proportion of germ cells appeared to have decreased as a result of Sertoli cell hypertrophy. These results clearly show that p-NP has an effect on Sertoli cells in the presence of an androgen (11-KT), potentially disturbing 11-KT-induced spermatogenesis.
