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The effects of Triclosan on the Male Reproductive System of the Rat
Citation:
Stoker, T., D. Hallinger, AND G. Louis. The effects of Triclosan on the Male Reproductive System of the Rat. Presented at Society of Toxicology (SOT), Pheonix, AR, March 24 - 27, 2014.
Impact/Purpose:
This is an abstract for the upcoming Annual Society of Toxicology (SOT) meeting in Phoenix, AR March 23-27, 2014. This abstract describes the effects of Triclosan in the Hershberger and H295 cell line to identify effects on the androgen pathway.
Description:
Triclosan (TCS), a widely used antibacterial agent, has been shown to have endocrine disrupting activity in mammals. Although the majority of these studies report that TCS alters thyroid hormones, effects on the estrogenic and androgenic pathways have also been observed. These include reports indicating anti-androgenic activity of TCS in vitro and a decrease in serum testosterone (T) concentrations in vivo. In the first study, we further examined the effect of TCS on androgenic activity in the male rat using the Hershberger assay. Six-week old castrated male rats were gavaged for 10 consecutive days with 50 or 200 mg/kg of TCS or vehicle control (corn oil) to determine the presence of any potential androgenic effects. Other groups of rats were treated with testosterone proprionate (TP) (0.2 mg/kg, sq) alone or in combination with 50 or 200 mg/kg TCS to evaluate possible anti-androgenicity or TP potentiation by TCS. On day 10, the accessory sex tissues (glans penis, Cowper’s glands, levator ani bulbo cavernosus muscle complex, seminal vesicles, and ventral prostate) were weighed. TCS alone did not alter the weight of any of the tissues. Also, TCS did not alter the weight of the tissues when given in combination with TP. As expected, TCS exposure (alone or in combination with TP) resulted in a dose-dependent decrease in serum thyroxine after a 10 day exposure to 50 and 200 mg/kg TCS. In a second in vitro study, we examined the effect of TCS on T production using the H295 cell line. Forskolin and prochloraz served as positive controls producing the expected increase and decrease in T production, respectively. TCS from 0.01 to 3.0 µM did not alter T. 10 µM 0f TCS induced 20% cytotoxicity. Thus, in the present study TCS did not have androgenic or anti-androgenic activity in the Hershberger assay and was without effect on steriodogenesis in the H295 cell line. Serum T4 was significantly decreased demonstrating that the doses selected were sufficient to cause a change in this hormone. This abstract does not necessarily reflect EPA policy.