title: Applicability of lectin histochemistry in a test system with in ovo treatment for detecting androgenic and antiandrogenic effects of chemicals in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica).
abstract: The aim of the current study was to examine whether analysis of the appearance of specific lectin-positive substances in the quail embryonic cloacal gland would be useful for evaluating the androgenic and antiandrogenic effects of chemicals. Fertilized Japanese quail eggs were injected with 0 to 75 µg of cyproterone acetate (CA), an antiandrogenic compound, on d 12 of incubation (d 12), followed by injection of 0 to 300 µg of testosterone propionate (TP) on d 13. Experimental groups consisted of a control group (corn oil injections on d 12 and 13), a TP-L group [corn oil and a low dose (L; 30 µg) of TP], a TP-H group [corn oil and a high dose (H; 300 µg) of TP], a CA-L + TP-H group [a low dose (L;7.5 µg) of CA + TP-H], and a CA-H + TP-H group [a high dose (H; 75 µg) of CA + TP-H]. The cloacal tissues were collected on d 16, processed into paraffin sections, and stained using 14 different biotinylated lectins. The Vicia villosa (VVA) lectin most strongly stained the developing cloacal glandular cells in TP-H. Western blotting analysis showed 1 VVA-positive band of approximately 75 kDa. The ratio of VVA-positive areas per unit square examined microscopically by image analysis was significantly greater in the TP-H group than in the control group in both males and females. The ratio was significantly decreased in the CA-L + TP-H and CA-H + TP-H groups compared with the TP-H group in both males and females. Furthermore, the ratio was smaller in females than in males within a TP-L or TP-H treatment group. These results suggest that lectin histochemistry on quail embryonic cloaca using VVA is useful for evaluating the androgenic and antiandrogenic effects of chemical compounds.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Health Science Laboratory, Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd., Takarazuka, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Utsumi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yoshimura
mesh_terms: D000726:Androgen Antagonists / Q000633:toxicity; D000728:Androgens / Q000633:toxicity; D000818:Animals; D003370:Coturnix / Q000196:embryology; D017373:Cyproterone Acetate / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000662:veterinary*; D037102:Lectins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D043343:Testosterone Propionate / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D000726:Androgen Antagonists; D000728:Androgens; D037102:Lectins; D017373:Cyproterone Acetate; D043343:Testosterone Propionate