You are here:
SMALL FISH MODELS FOR IDENTIFYING AND ASSESSING THE EFFECTS OF ENDOCRINE DISRUPTING CHEMICALS
Citation:
Ankley, G T. AND R. D. Johnson. SMALL FISH MODELS FOR IDENTIFYING AND ASSESSING THE EFFECTS OF ENDOCRINE DISRUPTING CHEMICALS. INSTITUTE OF ANIMAL RESEARCH JOURNAL 45(4):469-483, (2004).
Impact/Purpose:
To describe different experimental endpoints for partial- and full-life cycle tests with fish that enable a consideration of a broad range of EDCs
Description:
Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), in particular those which affect the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis of vertebrates, have become a focus of regulatory screening and testing throughout the world. Small fish species, principally the fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas), Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) and zebrafish (Danio rerio), are being used as model organisms for several of these testing programs. Fish are appropriate models for testing EDCs, not only from the perspective of existing ecological impacts but in terms of species extrapolation. Specifically, there is a significant degree of conservation of basic aspects of the HPG axis across vertebrates, which provides a technically-robust basis for using results from fish tests to predict likely modes/mechanisms of action of potential EDCs in other vertebrates. This review describes different experimental designs/endpoints for partial- and full-life cycle tests with fish that enable a consideration of a broad range of EDCs. Examples of results with specific chemicals in tests with the fathead minnow, medaka and zebrafish are presented and discussed in terms of sensitivity and specificity for different classes of EDCs.