title: Simultaneous exposure to estrogen and androgen resulted in feminization and endocrine disruption.
abstract: Estrogen, which is synthesized earlier in females than androgen in males, is critical for sex determination in non-mammalian vertebrates. However, it remains unknown that what would happen to the gonadal phenotype if estrogen and androgen were administrated simultaneously. In this study, XY and XX tilapia fry were treated with the same dose of 17α-methyltestosterone (MT) and 17β-estradiol (E2) alone and in combination from 0 to 30 days after hatching. Treatment of XY fish with E2 resulted in male to female sex reversal, while treatment of XX fish with MT resulted in female to male sex reversal. In contrast, simultaneous treatment of XX and XY fish with MT and E2 resulted in female, but with cyp11b2 and cyp19a1a co-expressed in the ovary. Serum 11-ketotestosteron level of the MT and E2 simultaneously treated XX and XY female was similar to that of the XY control, while serum E2 level of these two groups was similar to that of the XX control. Transcriptomic cluster analysis revealed that the MT and E2 treated XX and XY gonads clustered into the same branch with the XX control. However a small fraction of genes, which showed disordered expression, may be associated with stress response. These results demonstrated that estrogen could maintain the female phenotype of XX fish and feminize XY fish even in the presence of androgen. Simultaneous treatment with estrogen and androgen up-regulated the endogenous estrogen and androgen synthesis, and resulted in disordered gene expression and endocrine disruption in tilapia.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development (Ministry of Education)Key Laboratory of Aquatic Science of Chongqing, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development (Ministry of Education)Key Laboratory of Aquatic Science of Chongqing, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
authors.forename: Xiaolong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development (Ministry of Education)Key Laboratory of Aquatic Science of Chongqing, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
authors.forename: Haiwei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development (Ministry of Education)Key Laboratory of Aquatic Science of Chongqing, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
authors.forename: Hongjuan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development (Ministry of Education)Key Laboratory of Aquatic Science of Chongqing, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
authors.forename: Lina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development (Ministry of Education)Key Laboratory of Aquatic Science of Chongqing, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
authors.forename: Wenjing
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development (Ministry of Education)Key Laboratory of Aquatic Science of Chongqing, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
authors.forename: Qingping
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xi
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development (Ministry of Education)Key Laboratory of Aquatic Science of Chongqing, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China wdeshou@swu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Deshou
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D052244:Endocrine Disruptors; D004958:Estradiol / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005262:Feminization / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000662:veterinary*; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced*; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D008777:Methyltestosterone / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D010641:Phenotype; D012737:Sex Factors; D013739:Testosterone / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000097:blood; D017210:Tilapia
chemical_list: D052244:Endocrine Disruptors; D013739:Testosterone; D004958:Estradiol; C003600:11-ketotestosterone; D008777:Methyltestosterone
keywords: 17α-methyl testosterone; 17β-estradiol; disordered gene expression; simultaneous administration