scholarly journals Prenatal exposure to phthalates is associated with decreased anogenital distance and penile size in male newborns

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 300-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. P. Bustamante-Montes ◽  
M. A. Hernández-Valero ◽  
D. Flores-Pimentel ◽  
M. García-Fábila ◽  
A. Amaya-Chávez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prenatal Exposure ◽  
Animal Studies ◽  
Reproductive Tract ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Public Health Concern ◽  
Anogenital Distance ◽  
Male Reproductive Tract ◽  
Reproductive Effects ◽  
Phthalate Exposure ◽  
Ethylhexyl Phthalate

Reproductive effects from phthalate exposure have been documented mostly in animal studies. This study explored the association between prenatal exposure to phthalate metabolites, anogenital distance and penile measurements in male newborns in Toluca, State of Mexico. A total of 174 pregnant women provided urine samples for phthalate analysis during their last prenatal visit, and the 73 who gave birth to male infants were included in the study. The 73 male newborns were weighed and measured using standardized methods after delivery. After adjusting for creatinine and supine length at birth, significant inverse associations were observed between an index of prenatal exposure to total phthalate exposure and the distance from the anus to anterior base of the penis (β = −0.191 mm per 1 μg/l, P = 0.037), penile width (β = −0.0414, P = 0.050) and stretched length (β = −0.2137, P = 0.034); prenatal exposure to mono-2-ethylhexyl phthalate exposure was associated with a reduction in the stretched length of the penis (β = −0.2604, P = 0.050). Human exposure to phthalates is a public health concern, and the system most vulnerable to its potential effects seems to be the immature male reproductive tract.

scholarly journals Zika Virus Causes Acute and Chronic Prostatitis in Mice and Macaques

2019 ◽  
Vol 221 (9) ◽  
pp. 1506-1517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacques Halabi ◽  
Brett W Jagger ◽  
Vanessa Salazar ◽  
Emma S Winkler ◽  
James P White ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Zika Virus ◽  
Chronic Prostatitis ◽  
Animal Studies ◽  
Reproductive Tract ◽  
Rhesus Macaques ◽  
Sexual Transmission ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Male Reproductive Tract ◽  
Virus Clearance ◽  
Sperm Counts

Abstract Background Sexual transmission and persistence of Zika virus (ZIKV) in the male reproductive tract has raised concerned for potential damaging effects on function. Animal studies have demonstrated that ZIKV virus can infect and damage the testis and epididymis, and these results has been correlated to lower sperm counts in ZIKV-infected humans. The prostate plays a vital role in the male reproductive tract, with acute and chronic prostatitis linked to male infertility. Methods In this study, we evaluated the effects of ZIKV virus on the prostate in mice and nonhuman primates. Results In mice, ZIKV infected the prostate and triggered inflammation that persisted even after virus clearance. Evidence of chronic prostatitis associated with ZIKV infection remained for several months. Similar histological findings were observed in the prostate of ZIKV-infected rhesus macaques. Conclusions These studies establish that ZIKV replicates in the prostate and can cause acute and chronic inflammatory and proliferative changes in mouse and nonhuman primate models.

scholarly journals Prenatal Exposure to Persistent Organic Pollutants and Anogenital Distance in Children at 18 Months

2018 ◽  
Vol 90 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel García-Villarino ◽  
Isolina Riaño-Galán ◽  
Ana Cristina Rodriguez-Dehli ◽  
Esther Vizcaíno ◽  
Joan O. Grimalt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Pollutants ◽  
Prenatal Exposure ◽  
Persistent Organic Pollutants ◽  
Regression Models ◽  
Reproductive Tract ◽  
In Utero Exposure ◽  
Linear Regression Models ◽  
Anogenital Distance ◽  
Genital Development ◽  
Males And Females

Background: Anogenital distance (AGD) is a measure of in utero exposure to hormonally active agents. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between prenatal exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and AGD. Methods: POP levels were measured in pregnant women, and the AGD was recorded in 43 offspring at 18 months. We used linear regression models to analyze the association between maternal POP exposure and offspring AGD. We defined the anogenital index (AGI) as AGD divided by weight at 18 months (AGI = AGD / weight at 18 months [mm/kg]) and included this variable in the regression models. Results: AGI measure was 2.35 (0.61) and 1.38 (0.45) in males and females, respectively. AGI was inversely associated with lipid-adjusted concentrations of PBDE-99 (β = −0.28, 95% confidence interval [CI]: −0.51, −0.04) and PBDE-153 (β = −0.61, 95% CI: −1.11, −0.11) in males. We did not find any statistically significant relationship between any POPs and AGI in females. Conclusions: Environmental exposure to POPs may affect genital development and result in reproductive tract alterations with potentially relevant health consequences in maturity.

scholarly journals Specialized pro-resolving mediator network: an update on production and actions

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 443-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nan Chiang ◽  
Charles N. Serhan
Keyword(s):  
Tissue Regeneration ◽  
Animal Studies ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Inflammatory Responses ◽  
Docosapentaenoic Acid ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Public Health Concern ◽  
Protective Actions ◽  
Chemical Mediators ◽  
The Ideal

Abstract Today, persistent and uncontrolled inflammation is appreciated to play a pivotal role in many diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, metabolic syndrome and many other diseases of public health concern (e.g. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and periodontal disease). The ideal response to initial challenge in humans is a self-limited inflammatory response leading to complete resolution. The resolution phase is now widely recognized as a biosynthetically active process, governed by a superfamily of endogenous chemical mediators that stimulate resolution of inflammatory responses, namely specialized proresolving mediators (SPMs). Because resolution is the natural ideal response, the SPMs have gained attention. SPMs are mediators that include ω-6 arachidonic acid-derived lipoxins, ω-3 eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)-derived resolvins, protectins and maresins, cysteinyl-SPMs, as well as n-3 docosapentaenoic acid (DPA)-derived SPMs. These novel immunoresolvents, their biosynthetic pathways and receptors have proven to promote resolution of inflammation, clearance of microbes, reduce pain and promote tissue regeneration via specific cellular and molecular mechanisms. As of 17 August, 2020, PubMed.gov reported >1170 publications for resolvins, confirming their potent protective actions from many laboratories worldwide. Since this field is rapidly expanding, we provide a short update of advances within 2–3 years from human and preclinical animal studies, together with the structural–functional elucidation of SPMs and identification of novel SPM receptors. These new discoveries indicate that SPMs, their pathways and receptors could provide a basis for new approaches for treating inflammation-associated diseases and for stimulating tissue regeneration via resolution pharmacology and precision nutrition.

An Overview of Dementias

2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 75-84
Author(s):  
Venkata Vijaya K. Dalai ◽  
Jason E. Childress ◽  
Paul E Schulz
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Presentation ◽  
Treatment Options ◽  
Current Treatment ◽  
Great Variability ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Public Health Concern ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
The Common ◽  
Neurodegenerative Dementias ◽  
Made In

Dementia is a major public health concern that afflicts an estimated 24.3 million people worldwide. Great strides are being made in order to better diagnose, prevent, and treat these disorders. Dementia is associated with multiple complications, some of which can be life-threatening, such as dysphagia. There is great variability between dementias in terms of when dysphagia and other swallowing disorders occur. In order to prepare the reader for the other articles in this publication discussing swallowing issues in depth, the authors of this article will provide a brief overview of the prevalence, risk factors, pathogenesis, clinical presentation, diagnosis, current treatment options, and implications for eating for the common forms of neurodegenerative dementias.

Reframing Fatness: Critiquing ‘Obesity’

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bethan Evans ◽  
Charlotte Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Weight Loss ◽  
Michel Foucault ◽  
Overweight And Obesity ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Public Health Concern ◽  
Policy Language ◽  
Religious Imagery ◽  
Fat Bodies

Over the last twenty years or so, fatness, pathologised as overweight and obesity, has been a core public health concern around which has grown a lucrative international weight loss industry. Referred to as a ‘time bomb’ and ‘the terror within’, analogies of ‘war’ circulate around obesity, framing fatness as enemy.2 Religious imagery and cultural and moral ideologies inform medical, popular and policy language with the ‘sins’ of ‘gluttony’ and ‘sloth’, evoked to frame fat people as immoral at worst and unknowledgeable victims at best, and understandings of fatness intersect with gender, class, age, sexuality, disability and race to make some fat bodies more problematically fat than others. As Evans and Colls argue, drawing on Michel Foucault, a combination of medical and moral knowledges produces the powerful ‘obesity truths’ through which fatness is framed as universally abject and pathological. Dominant and medicalised discourses of fatness (as obesity) leave little room for alternative understandings.

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