Anti-estrogenic activity of diesel exhaust particles.

Estrogenic and anti-estrogenic activities of diesel exhaust particles (DEP) were evaluated using yeast cells expressing the human estrogen receptor and the responsive element regulating the expression of the receptor gene for beta-galactosidase (Routledge and Sumpter, 1996). It was found that a suspension of whole DEP suspension is not estrogenic but that this preparation possesses the ability to reduce the estrogen-dependent reporter activity. DEP were serially extracted with hexane, benzene, dichloromethane, methanol, and 1 M ammonia, and the estrogenic and anti-estrogenic activities of these preparations were determined. None of the extracts of DEP were estrogenic, but the extracts of benzene, dichloromethane and methanol possessed anti-estrogenic activity, and the activity of estrogen in the presence of hexane extract was slightly decreased. These results indicated that DEP contain heterologous compounds having anti-estrogenic activity. It is thought that those compounds in DEP can modulate the activity of estrogen, leading to the distruption of balance between estrogen and androgen. In this paper, the environmental effects of DEP in relation to the endocrine disrupting effect of organic compounds in DEP are discussed.