Establishment of a germ-somatic cell coculture model for toxicity assessment of environmental endocrine disrupters

Use of Chicken Embryo Model in Toxicity Studies of Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals and Nanoparticles

Lab animals such as mice and rats are widely used in toxicity research of food additive and pharmaceutics, despite the well-recognized research limitation such as the inability to simulate human neurological diseases, faster absorption of chemicals, big variations among species, and high cost when using a large number of animals. The Society of Toxicology's guidance now focuses on minimizing discomfort and distress of lab animals, finding alternative ways to reduce animal number, replacing animals with in vitro models, and complying to the animal welfare policies. The chicken embryonic model can be a better alternative to mice and rats because of its abundant availability and cost-effectiveness. It can be studied in both laboratory and natural environment, with easy manipulation in ovo or in vivo. The objective of this review paper is to evaluate the use of chicken embryonic model in toxicity evaluation for endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and nanoparticles (NPs) by different end points to determine more comprehensive toxic responses. The end points include chicken embryonic mortality and hatchability, developmental malformation analysis, hormonal imbalance, physiological changes in endocrine organs, and antiangiogenesis. Major research methodologies using chicken embryos are also summarized to demonstrate their versatile practice and valuable application in modern toxicity evaluation of EDCs and NPs.

Effects of mono-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP) on chicken germ cells cultured in vitro

In recent decades, many toxicological tests based on in vivo or in vitro models, mainly from mammalian (rat-mouse) and fish species, were used to assess the risks raised by contact or ingestion of molecules of pharmaceutical, agricultural, or natural origin. But no, or few, in vitro tests using other non-mammalian models such as bird have been explored despite their advantages: the embryonic gonads of birds have a high plasticity of development sensitive to estrogen, and sperm production is nearly two times faster than in rodents. Hence, we have established an in vitro culture of germ cells and somatic cells from chicken post-natal testis, and we have evaluated the sensitivity against the endocrine disruptor compound mono-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP) in comparison to previous studies using rodent and human models. After 96 h of exposure in presence of 10 μM MEHP, chicken seminiferous tubules cultures present a structural alteration, a reduction in cell proliferation and in germ cells population. Apoptosis of germ and somatic cells increases in presence of 1 μM MEHP. Furthermore, MEHP does not affect inhibin B and lactate production by Sertoli cells. These results are in accordance with previous studies using rat, mice, or human culture of testicular cells and in similar range of exposures or even better sensitivity for some "end-points" (biological parameters). In conclusion, the establishment of this postnatal testicular cells culture could be considered as an alternative method to in vivo experiments frequently used for evaluating the impact on the terrestrial wildlife species. This method could be also complementary to mammal model due to the limiting number of animals used and its elevated sensitivity.

Evolution of DNA strand-breaks in cultured spermatocytes: The Comet Assay reveals differences in normal and γ-irradiated germ cells

In reproductive toxicity assessment, in vitro systems can be used to determine mechanisms of action of toxicants. However, they generally investigate the immediate effects of toxicants, on isolated germ cells or spermatozoa. We report here the usefulness of in vitro cultures of rat spermatocytes and Sertoli cells, in conjunction with the Comet Assay to analyze the evolution of DNA strand-breaks and thus to determine DNA damage in germ cells. We compared cultures of normal and gamma-irradiated germ cells. In non-irradiated spermatocytes, the Comet Assay revealed the presence of DNA strand-breaks, which numbers decreased with the duration of the culture, suggesting the involvement of DNA repair mechanisms related to the meiotic recombination. In irradiated cells, the evolution of DNA strand-breaks was strongly modified. Thus our model is able to detect genotoxic lesions and/or DNA repair impairment in cultured spermatocytes. We propose this model as an in vitro tool for the study of genotoxic injuries on spermatocytes.

Quercetin Protects Spermatogonial Cells from 2,4-D-Induced Oxidative Damage in Embryonic Chickens

Quercetin, an antioxidant flavonoid, is considered beneficial to human and animal health. In this study, the protective effects of quercetin in relation to oxidative damage of testicular cells were studied by analysis of the intracellular antioxidant system after treatment of embryonic chickens with hypoxanthine-xanthine oxidase (HX-XO) or 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D). Testicular cells from Day 18 embryos were challenged with quercetin alone or in combinations with HX-XO or 2,4-D for 48 h in culture. The results showed that quercetin manifested no deleterious effects on spermatogonial cells at concentrations up to 1.0 microg/ml. Exposure to HX-XO or 2,4-D (50 microg/ml) induced condensed nuclei and vacuolated cytoplasm and a decrease in testicular cell viability and spermatogonial cell number. Membrane integrity was damaged by elevated lactate dehydrogenase leakage. Exposure to HX-XO or 2,4-D also elicited lipid peroxidation by elevation of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and decreased glutathione content and superoxide dismutase activity. However, simultaneous supplementation with quercetin restored these parameters to the levels in the controls. Consequently, HX-XO and 2,4-D induced oxidative stress in spermatogonial cells; however, dietary quercetin may attenuate the negative effects of environmental toxicants and restore the antioxidant system in testicular cells.