Case study of Atrazine as an Endocrine Disrupting Chemical: Timing is Everything.
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The chlorotriazine herbicide, atrazine, is a widely used pre-emergence herbicide used to control broadleaf and grassy weeds primarily on corn, sorghum, and sugarcane in the US. Atrazine has been shown to induce several adverse reproductive outcomes in both male and female rodents during susceptible reproductive life stages. These adverse effects include delayed puberty, suppression of the LH surge, altered ovarian estrous cyclicity and prostatitis. Of course, these effects are dependent on life stage, diurnal timing, dose and duration of exposure. The observed central hypothalamic effect of atrazine on pulsatile GnRH/LH release is associated with both the observed delayed onset of puberty in both males and females following a peri-juvenile exposure and the suppression of the LH surge following an adult exposure. There appear to be dual effects of atrazine on the HPG and the HPA axis, with differential mechanisms of action for the effects observed between acute and sustained dosing regimens. In addition, the effects of atrazine on catecholamine synthesis and subsequent suppression of prolactin release during lactation have been correlated with the development of hyperprolactinemia and prostatitis in male offspring. Interpreting the potential effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals on reproductive health outcomes requires the careful consideration of the timing and duration of exposure during each life stage.