Recently, parabens have been believed to act as xenoestrogens, an identified class of endocrine disruptors (EDs). These environmental compounds are the most well-known as preservatives in many commercial products, including food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. It has been demonstrated that the human health risks of parabens result from a long-term exposure to skin in which this chemical group is rapidly absorbed through the skin. On the other hand, parabens are also completely absorbed from gastrointestinal tract. It has reported that these substances possess several biological effects in which inhibitory property involved in membrane transports and mitochondrial functions is considered to be important for their action. Testing of parabens has revealed that estrogen-like activities of these chemicals are much less potent than natural estrogen, estradiol (E2). Additionally, the estrogenicity of individual paraben- compounds is distinct depending upon their biochemical structure. Recent findings of paraben-estrogenic activities have shown that these compounds may affect breast cancer incidence in women, suggesting adverse ecological outcomes of this environmental group on human and animal health. Although the biological and toxicological effects of parabens have been demonstrated in many previous studies, possible mechanism(s) of their action are required to be explored in order to bring the better understanding in the detrimental impacts of parabens in human and wildlife. There have several different types of parabens which are the most widely used as preservatives. These include methyl-paraben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben and p-hydroxybenzoic acid, a major metabolite of parabens. In this review, we summarize current database based on in vitro and in vivo assays for estrogenic activities and health risk assessment of paraben- EDs which have been published previously.

Although many studies have focused on the biological and toxicological effects of phenol products, in particular, in reproductive tracts, the data about their effects in this estrogenic responsive tissue are much less clear. In addition, the in vitro and in vivo data concerning ED-adverse impacts in other endocrine organs, i.e. pituitary gland, are not understood well either. Thus, a further study is needed for providing a new insight into possible impacts of estrogenic EDs including phenol products in humans and wildlife. A combination of in vitro and in vivo system for examining EDs may bring better understanding into the regulatory mechanisms underlying EDs-induced events. In addition, this information may support for developing optimal screening methods of estrogenic EDs, in particular, phenol products.

본 연구는 bisphenol A의 실제 식품을 통한 사람의 노출농도에서 에스트로젠 효과를 알아보기 위하여 사람의 유방암 세포인 MCF-7와 난소를 적출한 무흥선 마우스를 이용하여 살펴보았다. MCF-7세포를 이용한 genistein과 bisphenol A가 용매대조군과 무처치대조군에 비하여 genistein(10nM, 100nM, 1 uM, l0 uM)과 bisphenol A(2 ng/㎖, 4 ng/㎖, 8 ng/㎖, 16ng/㎖)의 세포성장촉진 효과가 용량의 증가에 따라 증가하는 경향을 보였다. genistein의 경우 1 uM을 정점으로 세포성장촉진이 극에 달하다가 l0 uM 투여군에서 1 uM 투여군에 비하여 약 40% 정도 세포성장이 감소하였으나 대조군에 비하여 여전히 세포의 성장을 촉진하였다. 이러한 결과는 bisphenol A와 genistein이 에스트로젠과 같이 에스트로젠 수용체와 결합하는 경로로 MCF-7세포의 성장을 촉진한 것으로 생각된다. 따라서 이러한 결과를 확인하기 위하여, 에스트로젠 의존적으로 유전자가 발현되는 유전자 중의 하나인 pS2 유전자의 발현을 살펴보았다. Genistein과 bisphenol A가 pS2유전자의 발현을 유도하는 것이 northern blot분석에 의하여 관찰되었다. 또한, 21일령의 무흉선 마우스를 이용한 in vivo연구에서, 무처치 대조군에 비하여 genistein과 bisphenol A를 투여한 마우스 군에서 유선의 발달과 end-bud의 형성이 유의하게 증가됨이 관찰되었다(p<0.05). 결론적으로, bisphenol A와 genistein이 MCF-7 세포에서 에스트로젠 효과가 매우 낮은 농도에서도 나타날 수 있다는 것은 식품위생상 큰 의미를 갖고 있으며, 이러한 물질들의 실제 사람에서의 위해성 특히 성장기 유아의 위해성에 대하여 좀 더 면밀히 연구되어야 할 것이다.