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Uphouse L: Effects of chlordecone on neuroendocrine function of female rats. Neurotoxicology. 1985 Spring;6(1):191-210.
The effects of chlordecone on reproductive function was examined in adult females. Chlordecone was shown to mimic estrogen by producing persistent vaginal estrus in ovariectomized and intact females. In ovariectomized females, chlordecone reduced serum levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) and increased prolactin (PRL). In intact females, chlordecone reduced the preovulatory surges of both LH and PRL but had no effect on serum hormones of diestrous females. Chlordecone failed to mimic estrogen in priming the ovariectomized female for behavioral receptivity, and instead appeared to antagonize the priming action of estrogen. Examination of neurotransmitter changes suggested that chlordecone disrupted the usual sequence of events occurring throughout the female's estrous cycle and that this disturbance of neurotransmitter equilibrium contributed to the reproductive dysfunction. The hypothesis that chlordecone disrupts reproductive function by acting as a weak estrogen received considerable support. However, the results of several studies indicated that the neural effects of chlordecone and estradiol were not identical. We have proposed that chlordecone mimics many of the estrogen-receptor mediated neural events. However, because of the persistence of chlordecone in the organism, chlordecone fails to initiate the sequential changes which characterize estrous cyclicity. |
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