- Full (HTML) - Full (PDF) - Related EHP Articles - PubMed:Related Articles - PubMed:Citation - Cited in PMC - Purchase This Issue

Osvaldo Fridman, Lucrecia Corró, and Jorge Herkovits

Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Salud, Fundación PROSAMA, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Abstract
The exposure of Bufo arenarum embryos to 25 µmol/L 17ß-estradiol (E₂) resulted in 100% lethality within 48 hr, whereas 10 µmol//L E₂ was the no observed effect concentration value for short-term chronic (7 days) exposure. The toxicity profile curves show that lethal effects were proportional to the E₂ concentration and the time of exposure. The E₂ uptake resulted in 20.1 ng E₂/mg embryo at 8 hr posttreatment, but 67.3% of this value was achieved during the first 30 min of incubation with this estrogen. Regarding metabolism, the embryos synthesize estrone (E₁) from E₂ by means of 17ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase. Simultaneous treatments of Bufo arenarum embryos with 1 mg/L Cd²⁺ and 0.1, 1, or 10 µmol/L E₂ enhanced the lethality exerted by cadmium in 76.7, 80, and 83.3% of embryos, respectively. The results indicate that estrogenic endocrine disruptors could have an adverse effect on amphibian embryos and enhance the toxic effect of Cd on amphibian embryos. This study points to the possibility of using the AMPHITOX test as a screening method for potential endocrine disruption as well as the combined effects of chemical mixtures. Key words: amphibian embryos, AMPHITOX, endocrine disruption, estradiol toxicity, estradiol uptake, estradiol-cadmium synergism. Environ Health Perspect 112:862-866 (2004) . doi:10.1289/ehp.6647 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 10 March 2004]

Address correspondence to J. Herkovits, Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Salud, Fundación PROSAMA, Paysandú 752, 1405 Buenos Aires, Argentina. Telephone: 54-11-4432-1111. Fax: 54-11-4431-2445. E-mail: herkovit@mail.retina.ar

We thank O. Dominguez for her skillful technical assistance.

This work was supported by grant PIP 2317 from the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tècnicas (CONICET) , Argentina, and Fundación PROSAMA. O.F. is a member of, and L.C. and J.H. received fellowships from, CONICET. This study was presented at the SETAC Latin America 5th Annual Meeting held 5-9 October 2002 in Vitoria, Brazil.

The authors declare they have no competing financial interests.

Received 7 August 2003 ; accepted 10 March 2004.