DES Exposure May Impair Later Function of the Uterus

A new study by Tulane University researchers, published in the March edition of Molecular Endocrinology, provides insight into one of the ways diethylstilbesterol (DES) may alter the development of the uterus.


DES, a synthetic estrogen, was prescribed to prevent miscarriage in many women who were pregnant between 1941 until 1971. In 1971, DES was banned in the United States due to concerns about the occurrence of cancer and infertility in the daughters of women who took it.

“Several millions of pregnant women were treated with DES and we have continued to study and model the disease since it provides unique insights into what estrogenic chemicals may do to the developing fetus,” says study co-author John McLachlan, director of the Center for Bioenvironmental Research at Tulane and Xavier Universities. “There are other chemicals in our environment — the results of industrial, agriculture and chemical processing — that, while their estrogenic affect is weaker, may affect developing embryos in the same way. We need models to understand the cellular and genetic mechanisms by which environmental chemicals work. This study is a step in that direction.”

Exposing a newborn mouse to DES may interfere with the proper development of the uterus, say Tulane University researchers. In this study, the scientists provide evidence that exposure to DES early in life can change the way genes are expressed in the uterus of mice long after the chemical treatment is stopped. This work is on the cutting edge of an area of scientific research called genetic imprinting, say the researchers.

“The results of this study and those from other labs suggest that some diseases seen in adults may have started with exposure to chemicals while in the womb,” McLachlan says. “This is a whole new kind of birth defect.”

Media Contact

newswise

More Information:

http://www.tulane.edu

All latest news from the category: Health and Medicine

This subject area encompasses research and studies in the field of human medicine.

Among the wide-ranging list of topics covered here are anesthesiology, anatomy, surgery, human genetics, hygiene and environmental medicine, internal medicine, neurology, pharmacology, physiology, urology and dental medicine.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Lighting up the future

New multidisciplinary research from the University of St Andrews could lead to more efficient televisions, computer screens and lighting. Researchers at the Organic Semiconductor Centre in the School of Physics and…

Researchers crack sugarcane’s complex genetic code

Sweet success: Scientists created a highly accurate reference genome for one of the most important modern crops and found a rare example of how genes confer disease resistance in plants….

Evolution of the most powerful ocean current on Earth

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica’s ice sheets….

Partners & Sponsors