Gene-environment interactions in male reproductive health: special reference to the aryl hydrocarbon receptor signaling pathway.

ABSTRACT: Over the last few decades, there have been numerous reports of adverse effects on the reproductive health of wildlife and laboratory animals caused by exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). The increasing trends in human male reproductive disorders and the mounting evidence for causative environmental factors have therefore sparked growing interest in the health threat posed to humans by EDCs, which are substances in our food, environment and consumer items that interfere with hormone action, biosynthesis or metabolism, resulting in disrupted tissue homeostasis or reproductive function. The mechanisms of EDCs involve a wide array of actions and pathways. Examples include the estrogenic, androgenic, thyroid and retinoid pathways, in which the EDCs may act directly as agonists or

SUBMITTER: Brokken LJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3901886 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan-Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature