Efeitos da exposição ao metilparabeno sobre a próstata de gerbilos adultos (Meriones unguiculatus)

• Autor(a) principal: Costa, Janaína Ribeiro
• Data de Publicação: 2016
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UFG
• Texto Completo: http://repositorio.bc.ufg.br/tede/handle/tede/6672
• topic: Paraben; Ventral prostate; Female prostate; Endocrine deregulator; Alfa oestrogen receptor; Androgenic receptor; MORFOLOGIA::HISTOLOGIA

The prostate is an accessory gland of the mammalian reproductive system with important role in reproduction. The prostatic tissue is regulated by hormones with its homeostasis dependent on a balanced hormonal interaction. The exposure to environmental chemicals with hormonal activities can cause disorders in the prostate increasing the probability of this gland to develop major lesions. Hormonally active chemicals are present in the environment in substantial amounts and forms. Amongst them are the parabens, a class of preservatives with antifungal and antimicrobial activities commonly used in the cosmetic, pharmaceutical and food industry. They are known for affecting the reproductive system and act as endocrine disruptors that mimics the physiological effects of estrogens. Up their, it is unclear whether the exposure to parabens alters the prostate morphophysiology. Therefore, it is relevant to comprehend whether the methylparaben can lead to the development of lesions in the prostate in adult gerbils. Thus, the aim of this work was to evaluate the prostate of adult gerbils exposed to methylparaben. For this, males and females aging 90 days received, through gavage, 500 mg/kg of methylparaben diluted in 1% hydroxyethyl cellulose. These animals were divided into three subgroups that were euthanized after 3 (3P), 7 (7P) and 21 days of treatment (21P). The prostates were collected for structural, cytochemical and immunohistochemical analysis. The results demonstrated that the exposure to methylparaben reduced the body weight of males of 3P and 7P groups, and testis weight of 7P and 21P groups. In the females we observed an increase in the prostatic complex weight of the 21P group. In both sexes, Gömöri’s reticulin staining showed a remodeling of the stromal compartment with reticular fibers disorganization and collagen fibers increase. Besides, males and females presented important morphological alterations as hyperplasic growth foci. In females, it was observed the presence of prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia, stromal inflammatory foci and an increase of ERα-positive cells. Immunohistochemical data showed an increase of ARpositive cells and in the proliferation rates for both genders. Altogether, these data demonstrate that methylparaben was capable to interfere in androgenic and estrogenic receptors, suggesting that this chemical might have estrogenic and anti-androgenic activity in the prostate. In males there was an intense immunostaining for MGMT in all treated groups whereas in females only in the 3P group. The immunostaining for MGMT in the prostate of males and females suggests that the exposure to methylparaben made the gland more susceptible to epigenetic modifications. The results obtained with this study are alarming, as they indicate that the increasing consumption of parabens by urban population can be related with the arising of morphophysiological alterations in prostate.