17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2), the female contraceptive pill, has been detected in mediterranean coasts where seahorse populations, Hippocampus guttulatus, live. Low environmental concentrations have the potential to disrupt growth but also endocrine metabolism, and this imbalance is all the more critical in early life stage. To investigate the impact of EE2 in reared seahorses, we exposed aged 2 months and sexually undifferentiated seahorses to an environmental concentration of 21 ng/L of EE2 for a period of 30 days. EE2 exposure led to a 19% reduction in weight, but also a mortality rate of 27%. This exposure predicted demasculinization of male individuals with a late onset of secondary sexual characteristics. EE2 exposure led to an increase of the free androgen index, but significant reductions of estradiol and testosterone in males were observed. This low estrogen concentration seemed to impact the positive feedback on luteinizing hormone (LH) with a decrease in LH production. Added to this, synthetic estrogen had a negative impact on the production and the release of follicle-stimulating hormone. Contrary to all expectations, females demonstrated a significant decrease in vitellogenin, following exposure to EE2 at 21 ng/L, while no changes were detected in males. This first study on the European long-snouted seahorses confirmed the deleterious impact of the female contraceptive pill with a real impact on growth, sexual differentiation, and maturation in young immature seahorses.
Keywords: 17α-ethinylestradiol; Growth; SHBG; Seahorse; Sexual hormones; VTG.