Previous studies have demonstrated that endocrine disruptors (EDs) can promote the transgenerational inheritance of disease susceptibility. Among the many existing EDs, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlordibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) affects reproductive health, including in humans, following direct occupational exposure or environmental disasters, for instance the Agent Orange sprayed during the Vietnam War. Conversely, few studies have focused on TCDD multigenerational and transgenerational effects on human reproductive health, despite the high amount of evidence in animal models of such effects on male and female reproductive health that mimic human reproductive system disorders. Importantly, these studies show that paternal ancestral TCDD exposure substantially contributes to pregnancy outcome and fetal health, although pregnancy outcome is considered tightly related to the woman's health. In this work, we conducted a systematic review of the literature and a knowledge synthesis in order (i) to describe the findings obtained in rodent models concerning TCDD transgenerational effects on reproductive health and (ii) to discuss the epigenetic molecular alterations that might be involved in this process. As ancestral toxicant exposure cannot be changed in humans, identifying the crucial reproductive functions that are negatively affected by such exposure may help clinicians to preserve male and female fertility and to avoid adverse pregnancy outcomes.
Keywords: dioxin (TCDD); endocrine disruptors (EDs); epigenetic; multigenerational transmission; murine models.