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Use of Serum Hormones in the Evaluation of Endocrine-Active Compounds
Citation:
Wood, C. Use of Serum Hormones in the Evaluation of Endocrine-Active Compounds. 2016 American College of Veterinary Pathologists, New Orleans, LA, December 03 - 07, 2016.
Impact/Purpose:
This invited speaker abstract provides a general overview of a continuing education seminar to be presented by Dr. Wood at the 2016 American College of Veterinary Pathologists and American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology Concurrent Annual Meeting. The title of the symposium is “Endocrine Function Tests in Diagnostic and Toxicologic Pathology.” This talk will focus on use of serum hormones in evaluating endocrine activity of environmental chemicals and highlight alternative assays and data types.
Description:
The endocrine system regulates a wide range of fundamental biological processes, from early growth and development to reproduction and metabolism. The identification of potential endocrine-disrupting activity is thus an important part of drug and chemical safety programs. Serum hormones are often used as biomarkers of endocrine effects in toxicity studies. These data can inform target pathways, human health relevance of observed pathologic effects, and quantitative risk assessment. However, there are many different analytical and biological factors that influence the usefulness of serum hormone data. The goal of this presentation is to provide general considerations for evaluating serum hormones (or not) in non-clinical studies. Topics will include species differences in hormonal responses, experimental design issues, and advantages and limitations of different assay platforms. Alternative data types such as genomic markers and in vitro activity, which in many cases provide more useful information for determining endocrine activity, will also be discussed. This abstract does not reflect EPA policy.