The endocrine system of animals consists of fine-tuned self-regulating mechanisms that maintain the hormonal and neuronal milieu during tissue development. This complex system can be influenced by endocrine disruptors (ED)-substances that can alter the hormonal regulation even in small concentrations. By now, thousands of substances-either synthesized by the plastic, cosmetic, agricultural, or medical industry or occurring naturally in plants or in polluted groundwater-can act as EDs. Their identification and testing has been a hard-to-solve problem; Recent indications that the ED effects may be species-specific just further complicated the determination of biological ED effects. Here we compare the effects of bisphenol-A, zearalenone, and arsenic (well-known EDs) exerted on mouse and rat neural cell cultures by measuring the differences of the ED-affected neural estrogen- and thyroid receptors. EDs alters the receptor expression in a species-like manner detectable in the magnitude as well as in the nature of biological responses. It is concluded that the interspecies differences (or species specificity) in ED effects should be considered in the future testing of ED effects.
Keywords: arsenic (As); bisphenol A (BPA); estrogen receptor α (ERα) and estrogen receptor β (ERβ); primary cerebellar neurons; thyroid receptor α (TRα) and thyroid receptor β (TRβ); zearalenone (ZEN).