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Anogenital distance and its application in environmental health research

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Abstract

Anogenital distance (AGD), a useful anthropometric measurement for genital development in both animals and humans, was originally found by reproductive toxicologists in rodent experiments. As an easy-to-measure and sensitive marker, AGD has become a bioassay of fetal androgen action and a well-established reproductive toxicity endpoint in animals. It is generally accepted that AGD is sexually dimorphic in many mammals, with males having longer AGD than females. Exposure to proposed endocrine disruptors may result in reduced AGD; thus, it has been used to measure health effects of compounds with endocrine-altering properties or endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in environmental toxicology. Moreover, AGD is an important clinical measure to address endocrine-sensitive endpoints in the first year of life and to assess the adverse impact of in utero exposure to environmental EDCs. Recently, AGD has been identified as one of the endpoints in the US Environmental Protection Agency guidelines for reproductive toxicity studies in humans, but use of AGD in human studies is still rare, and the results remain mixed and inconclusive due to many reasons. In order to achieve a breakthrough, researchers are endeavoring to standardize the measurement of AGD, normalize age-specific population data in different ethnic groups, and conduct more in-depth human researches in this field.

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Acknowledgments

The work was partially financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (21177080, 21377077).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Environmental Medicine and Developmental Toxicology, Shantou University Medical College, 22 Xinling Rd., Shantou, 515041, China

    Chunhua Liu, Xijin Xu & Xia Huo

  2. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Immunopathology, Shantou University Medical College, 22 Xinling Rd., Shantou, 515041, China

    Chunhua Liu, Xijin Xu & Xia Huo

  3. Department of Pediatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, 515041, China

    Chunhua Liu

  4. Department of Cell Biology and Genetics, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, 515041, China

    Xijin Xu

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  1. Chunhua Liu
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  2. Xijin Xu
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Correspondence to Xia Huo.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Liu, C., Xu, X. & Huo, X. Anogenital distance and its application in environmental health research. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 5457–5464 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-2570-z

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