Mammalian development in a changing environment: exposure to endocrine disruptors reveals the developmental plasticity of steroid-hormone target organs

Recent findings in the field of environmental endocrine disruption have revealed that developmental exposure to estrogenic chemicals induces morphological, functional, and behavioral anomalies associated with reproduction. The aim of the present study was to determine the effects of in utero exposure to low doses of the estrogenic chemical bisphenol A (BPA) on the development of the female reproductive tissues and mammary glands in CD-1 mice. Humans are exposed to BPA, which leaches from dental materials and plastic food and beverage containers. Here we report that prenatal exposure to BPA induces alterations in tissue organization within the ovaries and mammary glands and disrupts estrous cyclicity in adulthood. Because estrogen receptors are expressed developmentally in these estrogen-target organs, we propose that BPA may directly affect the expression of genes involved in their morphogenesis. In addition, alterations in the sexual differentiation of the brain, and thus the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, may further contribute to the observed phenotype. The emerging field of endocrine disruptors promises to provide new insights into the mechanisms underlying the development of hormone-target organs and demonstrates that the environment plays important roles in the making of phenotypes.