Long exposure to a mixture of endocrine disruptors prediposes the ventral prostate of rats to preneoplastic lesions

Abstract

Endocrine disruptors (ED) are compounds dispersed in the environment that modify hormone biosynthesis, affecting hormone-dependent organs such as the prostate. Studies have only focused on evaluating the effects of ED alone or in small groups and short intervals and have not adequately portrayed human exposure. Therefore, we characterized the prostate histoarchitecture of rats exposed to an ED mixture (ED Mix) mimicking human exposure. Pregnant females of the Sprague–Dawley strain were randomly distributed into two experimental groups: Control group (vehicle: corn oil, by gavage) and ED Mix group: received 32.11 mg/kg/day of the ED mixture diluted in corn oil (2 ml/kg), by gavage, from gestational day 7 (DG7) to post-natal day 21 (DPN21). After weaning at DPN22, the male pups continued to receive the complete DE mixture until they were 220 days old when they were euthanized. The ED Mix decreased the epithelial compartment, increased the fractal dimension, and decreased glandular dilation. In addition, low-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia was observed in addition to regions of epithelial atrophy in the group exposed to the ED Mix. Exposure to the mixture decreased both types I and III collagen area in the stroma. We concluded that the ED Mix was able to cause alterations in the prostatic histoarchitecture and induce the appearance of preneoplastic lesions.