Short-term effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals on the expression of estrogen-responsive genes in male medaka (Oryzias latipes).

To evaluate the estrogenic activities of selected estrogenic compounds such as estradiol-17beta (E2), nonylphenol (NP), 4-(1-adamantyl)phenol (AdP), bisphenol A (BPA), BPA metabolite 4-methyl-2,4-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)pent-1-ene (MBP) and 4,4'-dihydroxy-alpha-methylstilbene (DHMS) in the shortest possible time, we investigated the expression of estrogen-responsive genes such as vitellogenin I, vitellogenin II and alpha-type estrogen receptor genes in the liver of male medaka (Oryzias latipes) using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) techniques. These estrogen-responsive genes responded rapidly to selected estrogenic compounds after 8 h exposure, and the expression of hepatic vitellogenin II and estrogen receptor alpha mRNA was found to be more responsive than that of vitellogenin I mRNA. As a result, the relative estrogenic potencies of tested chemicals descended in the order of E2 (100)>MBP (0.38)>AdP (0.25)>DHMS (0.05)>NP (0.02)>BPA (0.001). Moreover, this preliminary study indicates that AdP and DHMS should be considered as candidate estrogenic compounds with the potential to induce hepatic estrogen-responsive genes in male medaka. These results suggest that vitellogenin I, vitellogenin II and estrogen receptor alpha gene expression patterns alter in male medaka treated with selected estrogenic compounds, and that these genes may be useful molecular biomarkers for screening estrogenic endocrine-disrupting chemicals in the shortest possible time.