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Bisphenol A may affect human reproduction
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ASRM 64th Annual Meeting
Bisphenol A, a chemical component of plastics found in food and beverage containers and dental sealants, was present in the blood of 93% of women and 81% of men undergoing their first cycle of in vitro fertilization, according to study data.
Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco presented these findings at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine 64th Annual Meeting in San Francisco. They measured serum bisphenol A levels in 44 women and 31 men — 27 of whom were couples — undergoing IVF cycles (mean age, 35.8 years).
The mean bisphenol A level was 4.2 ng/mL in women and 2.2 ng/mL in men. The researchers reported no correspondence of bisphenol A levels between partners and a slight inverse association between bisphenol A and peak estradiol. Further, there was a trend toward higher bisphenol A levels in women who did not become pregnant (4.17 ng/mL) vs. women who became pregnant (3.40 ng/mL).
In another session at the meeting, other researchers from the University of California, San Francisco reported the variable effects of bisphenol A on several genes involved in estrogen metabolism. The researchers collected human endometrial stromal fibroblast samples from eight individuals with no history of endometriosis or adenomyosis. The cells were treated with different concentrations of bisphenol A with or without estradiol and cyclic AMP.
After 48 hours of bisphenol A treatment, higher doses significantly induced insulin-like growth factor binding protein 1 mRNA in human endometrial stromal fibroblasts. Bisphenol A did not potentiate the effect of cyclic AMP on IGFBP-1 expression and had no effect on PRL expression. "This suggests that Bisphenol A may have a potential of triggering decidualization of endometrial stroma even in the absence of decidualization stimuli from the surrounding environment. This can shift the development of endometrium, which will not match the developmental stage of an embryo, when it arrives in the uterine cavity," Lusine Aghajanova MD, PhD, a study author and a fellow at the University of California San Francisco, told Endocrine Today.
Further, bisphenol A did not affect aromatase expression or PPAR gamma, which is in contrast to data in human granulosa cells (Kwintkiewicz et al, 2008 under review), according to Aghajanova. The effect of Bisphenol A on steroid hormone metabolism revealed in the same study proposes possible Bisphenol A involvement in the progesterone-deficient conditions. The endocrine-disruptive effect of bisphenol A on human endometrial stromal fibroblasts is variable and warrants further investigation, the researchers concluded.
“As levels of contaminants increase in the environment, they increase in our bodies. Estrogen-mimicking chemicals like bisphenol A have potential to cause damage. These studies are the beginning; more research is needed to fully define the effects of bisphenol A and to understand its mechanisms,” David Adamson, MD, American Society for Reproductive Medicine president, said in a press release. – by Katie Kalvaitis
For more information:
- Aghajanova L. #O-136. Presented at: American Society for Reproductive Medicine 64th Annual Meeting; Nov. 8-12, 2008; San Francisco.
- Lamb JD. #P-234. Presented at: American Society for Reproductive Medicine 64th Annual Meeting; Nov. 8-12, 2008; San Francisco.