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Neonatal exposure to diethylstilbestrol causes granulomatous orchitis via epididymal inflammation

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Abstract

Diethylstilbestrol (DES), an endocrine-disrupting chemical, is an infamous artificial estrogenic compound. Although neonatal exposure to DES has been shown to result in inflammation of the male reproductive system, it has not, to our knowledge, been reported to induce testicular inflammation. Here we report that neonatal exposure to DES caused granulomatous orchitis with spermatogenic disturbance in 4 of 17 ICR male mice at 12 weeks of age. In the animals with spermatogenic disturbance, we observed either seminiferous tubules containing only cells with Sertoli cell features (likely Sertoli cell syndrome), or tubule cells in maturation arrest that contained only spermatogonia and/or spermatocytes. Following neonatal DES exposure, 5-week-old mice exhibited inflammation in cauda epididymis; by 8 weeks, the inflammation had spread to all segments of epididymis but not the testis; by 12 weeks, inflammation of the epididymis was observed in all mice. These data indicated that cauda epididymis has increased sensitivity to neonatal DES exposure compared to other segments of epididymis and testis. The data also implied that neonatal DES exposure-induced inflammation in cauda epididymis extended gradually to the testis via corpus and caput during development.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Preventive Medical Science, Chiba University, Chiba, 260-8670, Japan

    Hidenobu Miyaso, Yoshiharu Matsuno & Chisato Mori

  2. Department of Bioenvironmental Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba, 260-8670, Japan

    Hidenobu Miyaso, Yoshiharu Matsuno & Chisato Mori

  3. Department of Anatomy, Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo, 160-8402, Japan

    Munekazu Naito, Shuichi Hirai & Masahiro Itoh

  4. Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, Graduate School of Nursing, Chiba University, Chiba, 260-8672, Japan

    Masatoshi Komiyama

Authors
  1. Hidenobu Miyaso
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  2. Munekazu Naito
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  3. Shuichi Hirai
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  4. Yoshiharu Matsuno
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  5. Masatoshi Komiyama
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  6. Masahiro Itoh
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  7. Chisato Mori
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Correspondence to Chisato Mori.

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Miyaso, H., Naito, M., Hirai, S. et al. Neonatal exposure to diethylstilbestrol causes granulomatous orchitis via epididymal inflammation. Anat Sci Int 89, 215–223 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12565-013-0225-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12565-013-0225-7

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