title: Occurrence of estrogen-like substances in the marine environment of the Northern Mediterranean Sea.
abstract: Evidence has been presented that a number of environmental agents perturbs the function of the sex hormone signalling pathways in marine animals. In this work the estrogenic/antiestrogenic activity of coastal marine water samples from five sites of the Northern Mediterranean Sea was assayed using a recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strain (RMY326 ER-ERE) transfected with the human estrogen receptor alpha. Extraction of potential EDCs from seawater was performed in columns packed with XAD-2 resins. The estrogenic activity was calculated as percentage of the activity of 17beta-estradiol (10 nM) and it ranged from 4.8% and 59.03%, significantly depending on sampling site (p=0.0013) and season (p<0.05). Antagonistic activity of extracts was also detected and the percentage of inhibition of estradiol-dependent beta-galactosidase induction ranged to 52.8%. These results point the reliability of the yeast assay as a first level screening test to assess the quality of aquatic environments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Pathology, Medical Biotechnology, Infectivology, Epidemiology, University of Pisa, 56127 Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pinto
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Garritano
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Reali
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay / Q000379:methods*; D004271:DNA, Fungal; D004274:DNA, Recombinant; D052244:Endocrine Disruptors / Q000032:analysis* / Q000494:pharmacology; D004777:Environment; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D047628:Estrogen Receptor alpha / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004967:Estrogens / Q000032:analysis* / Q000494:pharmacology; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D006801:Humans; D008386:Marine Biology; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000187:drug effects; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry*; D014982:Xenopus laevis; D015003:Yeasts / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal; D004274:DNA, Recombinant; D052244:Endocrine Disruptors; D047628:Estrogen Receptor alpha; D004967:Estrogens; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen