Endocrine disruptors and the developing brain

 Content: 1. What are environmental endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs)? --
 1.1 Introduction to EDCS --
 1.2 Endocrine systems communicate with the environment --
 1.3 Hormonal properties and mechanisms of EDCS --
 1.3.1 Nuclear hormone receptors --
 1.3.2 Membrane hormone receptors --
 1.3.3 Steroidogenic enzymes --
 1.4 Representative EDCs and their actions --
 1.4.1 Industrial organohalogens (PCBs, PBDEs) --
 1.4.2 Pesticides (DDT, methoxychlor) --
 1.4.3 Phytoestrogens --
 1.5 Summary and conclusions. 2. EDC exposures --
 2.1 EDCs and wildlife --
 2.1.1 Reproductive toxicity of EDCs in wildlife --
 2.2 EDCs and humans --
 2.2.1 Diethylstilbestrol (DES) --
 2.2.2 PCBS --
 2.2.3 Dioxins --
 2.2.4 Low-dose human exposures: what is the evidence? --
 2.3 Summary and conclusions. 3. EDCs and development --
 3.1 Vulnerability of the developing fetus --
 3.2 Fetal (developmental) basis of adult disease --
 3.3 Critical developmental periods --
 3.4 Key toxicological principles relevant to developmental exposures --
 3.4.1 LOAEL/NOAEL --
 3.4.2 Dose-response principles and why they do not apply to EDCs --
 3.4.3 Low-dose effects of EDCs, lack of a threshold --
 3.5 Summary and conclusions. 4. EDCs and the developing brain --
 4.1 Hormones and brain sexual differentiation --
 4.1.1 Hormones and neuronal survival and death --
 4.2 EDCs and the perturbation of brain sexual differentiation --
 4.2.1 Hypothalamic morphology --
 4.2.2 Hypothalamic developmental apoptosis --
 4.2.3 Neuronal phenotype --
 4.3 EDCs and reproductive behaviors --
 4.4 EDCs and non-reproductive behaviors --
 4.4.1 Hormones and synaptic plasticity --
 4.4.2 EDCs and neural plasticity --
 4.4.3 EDC effects on the brain's dopamine neurons --
 4.5 Summary and conclusions. 5. EDCs and neuroendocrine systems --
 5.1 Neuroendocrine systems of the hypothalamus --
 5.2 Reproductive neuroendocrine systems and perturbations by EDCs --
 5.2.1 Background on GnRH neurons --
 5.2.2 Sexual differentiation of the HPG axis --
 5.2.3 Steroid hormone feedback and regulation of HPG function --
 5.2.4 Disruption of GnRH neurons by EDCs --
 5.2.4.1 In vitro evidence --
 5.2.4.2 In vivo evidence --
 5.2.4.3 Developmental EDC exposures and GnRH neurons --
 5.2.5 EDCs, puberty, and the brain --
 5.2.5.1 Disruption of puberty by environmental EDCs --
 5.2.5.2 Kisspeptin neurons are potential targets for developmental EDCs --
 5.3 Summary and conclusions. 6. Epigenetic effects of EDCS --
 6.1 Molecular epigenetic mechanisms: an introduction --
 6.2 Hormones and epigenetic change --
 6.2.1 DNA methylation --
 6.2.2 Histone modifications --
 6.2.3 MicroRNAS --
 6.3 Transgenerational epigenetic effects of EDCs --
 6.3.1 Vinclozolin --
 6.3.2 Bisphenol A --
 6.3.3 Diethylstilbesterol (DES). --
 6.3.4 Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). --
 6.3.5 Methoxychlor --
 6.4 The importance of context in environmental epigenetics --
 6.5 Summary and conclusions. 7. EDCs, the brain, and the future --
 7.1 Can EDC effects be mitigated? --
 7.2 What can we do to avoid EDC exposures? --
 7.3 General conclusions. Acknowledgments --
 References --
 Author biographies.
 Abstract:             The field of endocrine disruption has been the focus of increasing attention from scientists and the general public in the past 30 years, amidst concerns that exposure to environmental chemicals with the potential to alter endocrine system function, known as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), may be contributing to an overall decline in wildlife populations and the reproductive health of humans. These concerns are based on observations of adverse effects of EDCs on marine and land animals, an increased incidence of reproductive and endocrine disease in humans, epidemiological evidence for links between body burden and disease, and endocrine disruption in laboratory animals following exposure to EDCs. Owing to its role in regulation of endocrine function as well as its responsiveness to hormones, the developing brain is an especially vulnerable target for many classes of EDCs. This book will address the evidence for EDC action on the developing brain, organized into 7 chapters. Topics covered include background about EDCs, evidence for exposures, concerns about EDC effects in the developing organism, and particularly on the developing nervous system, how EDCs perturb the brain's neuroendocrine systems, transgenerational epigenetic effects of EDCs, EDC effects on non-reproductive behaviors, and future perspectives. This is the first book completely dedicated to understanding links between EDCs and the developing brain, an area of emerging importance for human health