Invertebrates estrogens

Exposure to estrogenic compounds through diet will differ for herbivores and carnivores, the latter being most likely to encounter endogenous steroids in their prey. Efficient uptake of steroids in mammals is illustrated by the use of the contraceptive pill, but routes of absorption in invertebrates remain to be determined. The relationship between endocrine disruption and metabolic toxicity, with reduced reproductive viability a secondary consequence of metabolic disturbance, also merits further study in invertebrate species. 

Cyprid major protein is a larval storage protein necessary for successful metamorphosis. " Production of cyprid major protein was increased in the barnacle Balanus amphitrite following exposure to both nonylphenol and estradiol, suggesting that it may be a potential biomarker of estrogen exposure in invertebrates such as barnacles. " "... 

K Cooper Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ Evaluate the affects of a number of different compounds dioxins, dibenzofurnas, oil and estrogenic compounds on both invertebrates and vertebrate species U. S. Department of Agriculture Cooperative State Research Service... 

Due to concerns over potential exposure of aquatic organisms to NP, a number of acute and chronic toxicity tests have been conducted for both freshwater and saltwater species of invertebrates, fish, and aquatic plants. NP is considered an endocrine dis-ruptor chemical and induces production of vitellogenin in male rainbow trout, a process that normally occurs only in female fish in response to estrogenic hormones during the reproductive cycle. NP also induces precocious development of ovaries and an intersex condition in some fish species. 

Nikitima, S.M., Savehenko, O.N., Kogan, M.E., and Ezkhova, N.S. (1977) Preparative isolation of progesterone, testosterone and estrogens from the tissues of marine invertebrates. Zh. Evol. Biokhum. Fiziol, 13, 443—447. 

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