Searchable abstracts of presentations at key conferences in endocrinology
Endocrine Abstracts (2009) 19 P249

SFEBES2009 Poster Presentations Pituitary (56 abstracts)

Exposure to a cocktail of environmental chemicals in sewage sludge: effects on foetal and post pubertal pituitary gonadotrophs in sheep

M Bellingham 1 , CRE McNutt 1 , PA Fowler 2 , SM Rhind 5 , C Cotinot 4 , RM Sharpe 3 & NP Evans 1


1Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Institute of Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow Veterinary School, Glasgow, UK; 2Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK; 3MRC Human Reproductive Sciences Unit, Queen’s Medical Research Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK; 4INRA, UMR 1198, Biologie du Développement et de la Reproduction, Jouy-en-Josas, France; 5Macaulay Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, UK.


It has been hypothesised that the hypothalamo–pituitary gland complex is a prime target through which environmental chemicals may alter reproductive physiology. The aim of this study was to investigate whether exposure to an environmentally relevant mix of chemicals during in utero and post-natal development can alter pituitary function. Pituitary glands were collected from 110 day-old foetuses (8 control and 8 treated) and 18 month old, post-pubertal sheep (8 control and 8 treated), born to and raised by mothers maintained on pastures fertilised using sewage sludge (Treated) or conventional inorganic fertilisers (control). Pituitaries were sectioned (5 μm) and underwent dual labelled immunohistochemistry for LHβ and ERα. Mean immunopositive cell numbers were ascertained from three areas of each pituitary and data compared using Student’s T-test. There was no effect of gender on foetal pituitary measures so data were combined for subsequent analysis. In the foetal pituitary, treatment significantly reduced the number of LHβ and ERα immunopositive cells but had no effect on the proportion of oestradiol-responsive LHβ positive cells. Treatment resulted in a significant increase in adult pituitary size in male but not female animals. There was no effect of treatment on the number of LHβ and ERα immunopositive cells in the adult female pituitary. Treated males, had significantly less LHβ positive and double labelled cells. Relative to pituitary weight, this showed that treatment had no overall effect on LHβ and ERα immunopositive cell numbers. Therefore, foetal exposure to EDCs may alter the populations of oestradiol responsive cells and LHβ positive gonadotrophs in the foetal pituitary, however, during post natal development, changes occur which mean that in the adult, no differences are seen in either of these pituitary cell populations. These changes are gender specific as pituitary size is increased in males but not females as consequence of treatment.

Article tools

My recent searches

No recent searches.