Many synthetic chemicals, termed xenoestrogens, have been shown to interact as agonists with the estrogen receptor (ER) to elicit
biological responses similar to those of natural hormones. To date, the regulation of vitellogenesis in oviparous vertebrates has been widely
used for evaluation of estrogenic effects. Therefore, Carassius auratus juveniles were chosen as a fish model for studying the effects of estradiol-17b and different concentrations (10-6 and 10-7 M) of 4-nonylphenol (4-NP) on the expression of liver ERb-1 subtype; plasma vitellogenin and sex steroids (androgens and estradiol-17b) were also evaluated together with the bioaccumulation process, through massspectrometry.
C. auratus is a species widespread in the aquatic environment and, on the toxicological point of view, can be considered a good
‘‘sentinel’’ species. Juveniles of goldfish were maintained in tanks with only tap water or water with different concentrations (10-6 and 10-7
M) of 4-nonylphenol (4-NP), or 10-7 M of estradiol-17b. After 3 weeks of treatment, animals were anesthetized within 5 min after capture,
and blood was immediately collected into heparinized syringes by cardiac puncture and stored at -70°C; the gonads were fixed, then frozen
and stored at -70°C; the whole fish, liver, and muscle tissues were harvested and immediately stored at -70°C for molecular biology
experiments and bioaccumulation measurements. The estrogenic effects of 4-NP were evidenced by the presence of plasma vitellogenin in juveniles exposed both to estradiol-17b and the two doses of 4-NP; moreover, exposure to 4-NP also increased aromatization of androgens, as suggested by decreasing androgens and increasing estradiol-17b plasma levels. The changes of these parameters were in agreement with the increasing transcriptional rate of ERh-1 mRNA in the liver, demonstrating that both estradiol-17h and 4-NP modulate the vitellogenin
rate through interaction with the ERb-1 subtype.
The present study also suggests that 4-NP at the concentration of 10.6 M bioaccumulates in the liver.
