engleski

Biochemical aspects of atrazine effect on rat reproductive system

Atrazine is a selective triazine herbicide, one of the most widely used pesticides to control broadleaf and grassy weeds in corn and other crops. Therefore the extensive use leads to its posssible presence in groundwater, as well as in raw and industrial food products. The chemical contamination of the environment presents risks not only to the current population and to unborn fetuses but is also a hazard to future generations through possible mutations affecting the reproductive system. Some chemicals directly affect conceptus while others, like atrazine, alter the reproductive function of neuroendocrine and target organs at different levels: hypothalamus, anterior pituitary, testes, prostate, uterus. The indirect effect of atrazine on the pituitary-gonadal axis of male and female offspring was studied by treating rat females during pregnancy and/or pregnancy and lactation. In the offspring of both sexes a slower maturation of the gonadotropic system was evident and as a consequence the modification of male and female 5-reductase activity was detected. In the adult male rats atrazine subtoxic doses either in in vitro or in vivo experiments affect changes in: 5-reductase activity at the pituitary and prostate levels; LH and FSH production in the pituitary; 5-DHT – recepror complex formation in the prostate. Atrazine also induces strong modification of spermatogenesis with the significant intracellular changes in the testes.

atrazine; reproductive system; rat

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