Detailed Review Paper on the State of the Science on Novel In Vitro and In Vivo Screening
and Testing Methods and Endpoints for Evaluating Endocrine Disruptors
This document describes some endocrine pathways that have been shown to be susceptible
to environmental endocrine disruption and whose disruption could contribute to increasing
incidents of some disorders in humans and wildlife populations, such as obesity/diabetes/metabolic
syndrome, reproductive dysfunction, and neuro-developmental abnormalities. Assays
and endpoints are described that could be used in new or existing OECD Test Guidelines
for evaluating chemicals for endocrine-disrupting activity. Endocrine pathways evaluated
are the hypothalamus:pituitary:adrenocortical (HPA) axis, the hypothalamus:pituitary:gonad
(HPG) axis, the somatotropic axis, the retinoid signaling pathway, the hypothalamus:pituitary:thyroid
(HPT) axis, the vitamin D signaling pathway, and the peroxisome proliferator-activated
receptor (PPAR) signaling pathway.