It is time to develop ecological thresholds of toxicological concern to assist environmental hazard assessment.

The threshold of toxicological concern (TTC) concept is well established for assessing human safety of food-contact substances and has been reapplied for a variety of endpoints, including carcinogenicity, teratogenicity, and reproductive toxicity. The TTC establishes an exposure level for chemicals below which no appreciable risk to human health or the environment is expected, based on a de minimis value for toxicity identified for many chemicals. Threshold of toxicological concern approaches have benefits for screening-level risk assessments, including the potential for rapid decision-making, fully utilizing existing knowledge, reasonable conservativeness for chemicals used in lower volumes (low production volume chemicals (e.

Control of pituitary thyroid-stimulating hormone synthesis and secretion by thyroid hormones during Xenopus metamorphosis.

We used ex vivo and in vivo experiments with Xenopus laevis tadpoles to examine the hypothesis that the set-point for negative feedback on pituitary thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) synthesis and secretion by thyroid hormones (THs) increases as metamorphosis progresses to allow for the previously documented concomitant increase in serum TH concentrations and pituitary TSH mRNA expression during this transformative process. First, pituitaries from climactic tadpoles were cultured for up to 96 h to characterize the ability of pituitary explants to synthesize and secrete TSHβ in the absence of hypothalamic and circulating hormones. Next, pituitary explants from tadpoles NF stages 54-66 were exposed to physiologically-relevant concentrations of THs to determine whether stage-specific differences exist in pituitary sensitivity to negative feedback by THs.

Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH): measurement of intracellular, secreted, and circulating hormone in Xenopus laevis and Xenopus tropicalis.

Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) is an important regulator of the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis in Xenopus laevis. To evaluate the role of this hormone on developing tadpoles, immunologically-based Western blots and sandwich ELISAs were developed for measuring intracellular (within pituitaries), secreted (ex vivo pituitary culture), and circulating (serum) amounts. Despite the small size of the tadpoles, these methods were able to easily measure intracellular and secreted TSH, and circulating TSH was measurable in situations where high levels were induced.

Environmental-endocrine control of reproductive maturation in gastropods: implications for the mechanism of tributyltin-induced imposex in prosobranchs.

Prosobranch snails have been afflicted globally by a condition whereby females develop male sex characteristics, most notably a penis. This condition, known as imposex, has been causally associated with the ubiquitous environmental contaminant tributyltin (TBT). Deduction of the mechanism by which TBT causes imposex has been hampered by the lack of understanding of the normal endocrine regulation of reproductive tract recrudescence in these organisms.

Synchronized expression of retinoid X receptor mRNA with reproductive tract recrudescence in an imposex-susceptible mollusc.

The biocide tributyltin (TBT) causes the development of male sex characteristics in females of some molluscan species, a phenomenon known as imposex. Recent evidence suggests that the retinoid X receptor (RXR) participates in TBT-induced imposex. Accordingly, we hypothesized that RXR may contribute to the seasonal development of the male reproductive tract in molluscs and would be expressed in concert with this phenomenon.

The contribution of steroidal androgens and estrogens to reproductive maturation of the eastern mud snail Ilyanassa obsoleta.

Molluscs exposed to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) have exhibited changes in reproductive tract development that are typically associated with androgen or estrogen signaling in vertebrates. However, a role for androgens and estrogens in molluscan reproductive endocrinology has yet to be established. In this study, we investigated putative roles for steroidal androgens and estrogens in recrudescence of the eastern mud snail Ilyanassa obsoleta.

Sensitivity of fetal rat testicular steroidogenesis to maternal prochloraz exposure and the underlying mechanism of inhibition.

The fungicide prochloraz (PCZ) induces malformations in androgen-dependent tissues in male rats when administered during sex differentiation. The sensitivity of fetal testicular steroidogenesis to PCZ was investigated to test the hypothesis that the reported morphological effects from maternal exposure were associated with reduced testosterone synthesis. Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were dosed by gavage with 0, 7.

Kinetic characterization of the inhibition of acyl coenzyme A: steroid acyltransferases by tributyltin in the eastern mud snail (Ilyanassa obsoleta).

Exposure to tributyltin (TBT) has been causally associated with the global occurrence of a pseudohermaphroditic condition called imposex in neogastropod species. TBT elevates free testosterone levels in these organisms, and this upsurge in testosterone may be involved in the development of imposex. We investigated the ability of TBT to inhibit acyl coenzyme A:testosterone acyltransferase (ATAT) activity as well as microsomal acyl-coenzyme A:17beta-estradiol acyltransferase (AEAT) in a neogastropod, the eastern mud snail Ilyanassa obsoleta as a mechanism by which TBT elevates free testosterone.

Testosterone-Fatty Acid esterification: a unique target for the endocrine toxicity of tributyltin to gastropods.

Over the past thirty years, a global occurrence of sexual aberration has occurred whereby females among populations of prosobranch snails exhibit male sex characteristics. This condition, called imposex, has been causally associated with exposure to the biocide tributyltin. Tributyltin-exposed, imposex snails typically have elevated levels of testosterone which have led to the postulate that this endocrine dysfunction is responsible for imposex.