Michel Tournaire1, Emmanuel Devouche2, Sylvie Epelboin3, Anne Cabau4, Annabel Dunbavand5, Anne Levadou6. 1. Assistance publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, 75014 Paris, France; Université Paris Descartes, 75006 Paris, France. Electronic address: mftournaire@gmail.com. 2. Université Paris Descartes, 75006 Paris, France; Laboratoire psychopathologie et processus de santé EA4057, 92100 Boulogne-Billancourt, France. 3. Assistance publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, hôpital Bichat-Claude Bernard, 75018 Paris, France; Université Paris 7 Diderot, 75013 Paris, France. 4. Assistance publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, 75014 Paris, France. 5. Mutualité française, 75015 Paris, France. 6. Association réseau DES France, 40000 Mont-de-Marsan, France.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Prenatal exposure to diethylstilbestrol (DES) is associated with adverse effects, including genital anomalies and cancers in men and women. Animal studies showed birth defects and tumors in the offspring of mice prenatally exposed to DES. In humans, birth defects, such as hypospadias were observed in children of prenatally exposed women. The aim of this research was to assess the birth defects in children of prenatally exposed men. METHODS: In a retrospective study conceived by a patients' association (Réseau DES France), the reports of men prenatally exposed to DES on adverse health effects in their children were compared with those of unexposed controls and general population. RESULTS: An increased incidence of two genital anomalies, cryptorchidism (OR=5.72; 95% CI 1.51-21.71), and hypoplasia of the penis (OR=22.92; 95% CI 3.81-137.90), was observed in the 209 sons of prenatally exposed men compared with controls, but hypospadias incidence was not increased in comparison with either the controls or the general population. No increase of genital anomalies was observed in daughters. CONCLUSION: With caution due to the methods and to the small numbers of defects observed, this work suggests an increased incidence of two male genital tract defects in sons of men prenatally exposed to DES. This transgenerational effect, already observed in animals and in the offspring of women prenatally exposed to DES, could be the result of epigenetic changes transmitted to the subsequent generation through men.
OBJECTIVE: Prenatal exposure to diethylstilbestrol (DES) is associated with adverse effects, including genital anomalies and cancers in men and women. Animal studies showed birth defects and tumors in the offspring of mice prenatally exposed to DES. In humans, birth defects, such as hypospadias were observed in children of prenatally exposed women. The aim of this research was to assess the birth defects in children of prenatally exposed men. METHODS: In a retrospective study conceived by a patients' association (Réseau DES France), the reports of men prenatally exposed to DES on adverse health effects in their children were compared with those of unexposed controls and general population. RESULTS: An increased incidence of two genital anomalies, cryptorchidism (OR=5.72; 95% CI 1.51-21.71), and hypoplasia of the penis (OR=22.92; 95% CI 3.81-137.90), was observed in the 209 sons of prenatally exposed men compared with controls, but hypospadias incidence was not increased in comparison with either the controls or the general population. No increase of genital anomalies was observed in daughters. CONCLUSION: With caution due to the methods and to the small numbers of defects observed, this work suggests an increased incidence of two male genital tract defects in sons of men prenatally exposed to DES. This transgenerational effect, already observed in animals and in the offspring of women prenatally exposed to DES, could be the result of epigenetic changes transmitted to the subsequent generation through men.
Authors: Jacopo Umberto Verga; Matthew Huff; Diarmuid Owens; Bethany J Wolf; Gary Hardiman Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-01-05 Impact factor: 3.390