Vitellogenin induction

Folmar, L.C., Denslow, N.D., Rao, V. et al. (1996). Vitellogenin induction and reduced serum testosterone concentrations in feral male carp (Cyprinus carpio) captured near a major metropohtan sewage treatment plant. Environmental Health Perspectives 104, 1096-1101. 

Thorpe, K.L., Hutchinson, T.H., and Hetheridge, M.J. et al. (2001). Assessing the biological potency of binary mixtures of environmental estrogens using vitellogenin induction in juvenile rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss). Environmental Science and Technology 35, 2476-2481. 

A subsequent study in the same areas also included biological samples [12]. Again, the Aire river contained the highest concentrations, with total extractable NP + A9PEOi+2 concentrations of 15-76 pg L 1. In many samples of this river, levels exceed the no observed effect concentration (NOEC) for vitellogenin induction in trout (5-20 pg L 1). However, in most samples of the other investigated rivers, levels were... 

Similar to the relative potencies for toxicity, relative potencies for receptor binding, vitellogenin induction and several other ER mediated responses, such as those from the in vitro tests presented in Table 7.3.2... 

Sherry J, Gamble A, Hodson PV, Solomon KR, Hock B, Marx A, Hansen P. 1999. Vitellogenin induction in fish as an indicator of exposure to environmental estrogen. In Rao SS, editor. Impact assessment of hazardous aquatic contaminants concepts and approaches. Boca Raton, FL Lewis Publishers, p 123-160. 

Rose, J., H. Holbech, C. Lindholst, U. Norum, A. Povlsen, B. Korsgaard and P. Bjerregaard. Vitellogenin induction by 17beta-estradiol and 17alpha-ethinylestradiol in male zebrafish (Danio rerio). Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 131C 531-539, 2002. 

Hemmer, M.J., B.L. Hemmer, C.J. Bowman, K.J. Kroll, L.C. Folmar, D. Marcovich, M.D. Hoglund and N.A. Denslow. Effects of p-nonylphenol, methoxychlor, and endosulfan on vitellogenin induction and expression in sheepshead minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus). Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 20 336-343, 2001. 

Folmar, L.C., N.D. Denslow, K. Kroll, E.F. Orlando, J. Enblom, J. Marcino, C. Metcalfe and L.J. Guillette, Jr.. Altered serum sex steroids and vitellogenin induction in walleye (Stizostedion vitreum) collected near a Metropolitan sewage treatment plant. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 40 392-398, 2001. 

Seki, M., H. Yokota, M. Maeda, H. Tadokoro and K. Kobayashi. Effects of 4-nonylphenol and 4-tert-octylphenol on sex differentiation and vitellogenin induction in medaka (Oryzias latipes). Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 22 1507-1516, 2003. 

Biomarkers The observation of biological responses can also be used as an indication of EDC exposure. In studies where fish have been exposed to sewage the results have indicated that sewage effluent was estrogenic in nature. Exposed fish experienced a rapid and pronounced increase in their plasma vitellogenin concentrations. Rainbow trout and wild roach populations from various river sites have shown evidence of vitellogenin induction. Quantification of... 

There is some evidence for chemically mediated endocrine disruption in amphibians. The egg yolk protein, vitellogenin, is inducible in amphibians by exposure to DDT. " Males of the short clawed toad Xenopus laevis given 250 fig/g or 1 fig/g o,p -DDT for seven days have been shown to produce vitellogenin, although the induction was less than that achieved by treatment with 1 fig/g of either 17/1-oestradiol or diethylstilboestrol. Research has also shown that endocrine disrupting chemicals can alter sex ratios in wild populations of certain species PCB congeners and organochlorine compounds have been linked with male domination of sex ratios in polluted compared to unpolluted sites. ... 

Andersen L, Holbech H, Gessbo A, Norrgren L, Petersen GI (2003) Effects of exposure to 17 alpha-ethinylestradiol during early development on sexual differentiation and induction of vitellogenin in zebrafish (Danio rerio). Comp Biochem Physiol C-Toxicol Pharmacol 134 365-374... 

Olsson, P.E., M. Zafarullah, and L. Gedamu. 1989. A role of metallothionein in zinc regulation after oestradiol induction of vitellogenin synthesis in rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri. Biochem. Jour. 257 555-559. 

Petty et al. (1998, 2000) used a vitellogenin (VGT) assay to assess the endocrine disrupting potential of contaminants in purified SPMD extracts. VGT is an egg yolk phosphoprotein precursor that is synthesized in the liver of female teleosts in response to estrogen from the ovary (Bailey, 1957). A wide variety of environmental contaminants have been shown to have estrogenic activity (Colborn et al., 1993). Equal portions of purified extracts from SPMDs, exposed in the Missouri River after the flood of 1993 and from the IWWTP at the Nogales Wash deployment were individually injected into immature rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) as described in Section 6.4. The SPMD extracts contained elevated levels of complex mixtures of contaminants, including PAHs and pesticides. The fish injected with these sample extracts exhibited VGT induction, while no induction was observed in fish injected with any of the blank sample extracts. 

Tyler C.R., R. van Aerie, T.H. Hutchinson, S. Maddix, and H. Trip (1999). An in vivo testing system for endocrine dismptors in fish early life stages using induction of vitellogenin. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 18 337-347. 

BPA is considered an endocrine disruptor chemical and, in chronic studies, induces production of vitellogenin in male fathead minnows (P. promelas) at concentrations of 640 and 1280pgl after 43 days and 160pgl after 71 days. Induction of vitellogenin is a process normally occurring only in female fish in response to estrogenic hormones during the reproductive cycle. 

Several assays, such as the ultra-sensitive luminescent ELRA developed by Seifert (2004) with a detection limit of 20 ng L-1 for 17 (3-estradiol, have been reported in the literature. Although these assays are simple to use, many factors, such as differences in culture conditions, cell density or cell-line clones, affect the potency of estrogenic substances, and that makes the standardization of these methods difficult. The induction of several proteins or enzyme activities (e.g. the increasing levels of alkaline phosphatase, cathepsin D, prolactin and vitellogenin as a consequence of progestogens) has also been used to study estrogenicity. However, expression of these proteins or enzyme activities is restricted to specific cell lines and cannot be extrapolated to other tissues or species. 

Induction of Estrogenic Vitellogenin is an egg yolk precursor protein... 

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