Abstract
Because a wide range of environmental contaminants are known to cause endocrine disorders in humans and animals, in vivo tests are needed to identify such endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and to assess their biological effects. Despite the lack of a standardized guideline, the avian embryo has been shown to be a promising model system which responds sensitively to EDCs. After previous studies on the effects of estrogenic, antiestrogenic and androgenic substances, the present work focuses on the effects of in ovo exposure to p,p'-DDE, flutamide and cyproterone acetate (CPA) as antiandrogenic model compounds regarding gonadal sex differentiation and embryonic development of the domestic fowl (Gallus gallus domesticus). The substances were injected into the yolk of fertilized eggs on embryonic day one. On embryonic day 19 sex genotype and phenotype were determined, followed by gross morphological and histological examination of the gonads. Treatment with flutamide (0.5, 5, 50 µg/g egg), p,p'-DDE (0.5, 5, 50 µg/g egg) or CPA (0.2, 2, 20 µg/g egg) did not affect male or female gonad development, assessed by gonad surface area and cortex thickness in both sexes and by the percentage of seminiferous tubules in males as endpoints. This leads to the conclusion that antiandrogens do not affect sexual differentiation during embryonic development of G. gallus domesticus, reflecting that gonads are not target organs for androgens in birds. In ovo exposure to 2 and 20 µg CPA/g egg, however, resulted in significantly smaller embryos as displayed by shortened lengths of skull, ulna and tarsometatarsus. Although gonadal endpoints were not affected by antiandrogens, the embryo of G. gallus domesticus is shown to be a suitable test system for the identification of substance-related mortality and developmental delays.
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