International Research Partnership Supports Study of Milk-Borne Environmental Estrogen and Reproductive Development
Skip Bartol
An Auburn University animal scientist whose research focuses on reproductive-tract development in large domestic animals is joining forces with German researchers on a new project that may have implications for the reproductive health of animals and humans.
In the three-year study, Auburn's Frank "Skip" Bartol, who is also an adjunct professor in the AU College of Veterinary Medicine's Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology and director of the university's Cellular and Molecular Biosciences Program, and two German research partners will investigate a naturally occurring estrogen-like compound called zearalenone and its effects on the reproductive development of newborn pigs.
Zearalenone is produced by molds that grow on grains. When an animal eats zearalenone-contaminated grains, the substance enters the body, where it mimics the hormone estrogen and subsequently can disrupt normal processes that are estrogen-sensitive.
Pigs are extremely vulnerable to the effects of this environmental estrogen which, in adult female pigs, can interfere with reproductive processes including ovulation, conception, implantation and fetal development. The compound may also be transmitted from a mother to her offspring in milk. Short-term exposure of newborn animals to environmental estrogens can affect patterns of reproductive-tract development with long-term consequences for reproductive health.
The research partners will concentrate on identifying gene expression patterns affected by zearalenone in the developing female reproductive tract shortly after birth that could affect fertility and reproductive health later in life.
Problems involving zearalenone exposure are widely recognized to have significant negative economic implications in animal agriculture, but indications are that reproductive problems may also occur if humans are exposed to such compounds. Because of this, the European Food Safety Authority recently recommended that studies be conducted to define effects of zearalenone on reproductive development. The pig was identified as the most important animal model for such studies.
Bartol's partners in the research project will be Professor Dr. Martin Wähner of Germany's Anhalt University of Applied Sciences and Dr. Johannes Kauffold of the University of Leipzig.
Research will be supported through a competitive grant from the German Federation of Industrial Research Associations, which promotes research and development efforts on an international scale and functions as a bridge between industry and science.
For more information on this international research project, contact Bartol at 334-844-1506 or bartoff@aburn.edu.