Publication details

Antiandrogenic activity of humic substances

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Authors

BITTNER Michal SAUL Nadine STEINBERG Christian E W

Year of publication 2012
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Science of the Total Environment
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Science

Citation
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.05.056
Field Environment influence on health
Keywords Humic substances; Hormone-like effect; Antiandrogenic pathway
Description For long, natural organic matter (NOM) composed mainly of humic substances (HS) were regarded as inert in the ecosystems with respect to their possible chemical interaction with exposed organisms. However recently, NOM have been shown to elicit various adverse effects generally attributed to synthetic xenobiotics, including estrogenic effects translating into shifts of the gender ratios in populations. However, the anti/androgenic pathway was not yet evaluated. Here, we applied an anti/androgenic sensitive cell line MDA stably transfected with the firefly luciferase gene under transcriptional control of the androgen responsive element. With five out of twelve tested NOM preparations, particularly with soil and coal isolates, we identified a relatively high, concentration-dependent antiandrogenic effect. This appears to be the first study to show this endocrine disrupting pathway for a ubiquitous biogeochemical matrix, a potential activity which should not be neglected in forthcoming studies on synthetic endocrine disruptors in the environment.
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