Estrogenic Effect of Organic Extract From Water Source of X City

摘要

Water pollution by endocrine disruptors is one of the most critical problems concerning drinking water resources and environmental protection of water bodies. Up to now, the uterotrophic assay is still considered as the "gold standard" and as an essential component when testing for estrogenicity since it incorporates the effects of metabolism and pharmacokinetics. The present study was conducted to explore the estrogenic effect of organic extraction from water source of x city in the Southern China by the typical uterotrophic assay. Furthermore, expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) was detected by immunohistochemistry. The results showed that the changes of uterine wet weight and uterine gland number were insignificant among different doses, while uterine epithelial cell height increased significantly with increase of dosage. The results also showed the expression of PCNA was strong in positive control and high dosage group, while its expression was negative or weak in negative control and low dosage group. It suggested that water sample detected had estrogenic activity. Taken together, the data presented in current study suggest that incorporation of morphologic and biochemical responses as endpoints in the rodent uterotrophic bioassay did not show the high sensitivity of the test when assessing mixture and it therefore needs to be further improved in identifying potential environmental toxicants. Other endpoints and new methods need to be employed in order to increase the sensitivity, efficiency and reliability in the screening test.