Effect of Prenatal Exposure to Lead on Estrogen Action in the Prepubertal Rat Uterus

Lead is a widely spread environmental pollutant known to affect both male and female reproductive systems in humans and experimental animals and causes infertility and other adverse effects. The present paper investigated the effects of prenatal exposure to lead on different parameters of estrogen stimulation in the uterus of the prepubertal rat. In prenatally and perinatally exposed rats, estrogen-induced endometrial eosinophilia, endometrial stroma edema, and eosinophil migration towards the endometrium, and uterine luminal epithelial hypertrophy are enhanced while several other responses to estrogen appear unchanged. These effects may contribute to decrease in fertility following prenatal exposure to lead. The striking difference between most of these effects of prenatal exposure and the previously reported effects of chronic exposure to lead suggests that prenatal exposure to lead may neutralize the effects of chronic exposure to lead, providing partial protection of cell function against the adverse effects of chronic exposure to lead. We propose that the mechanism involved, named imprinting or cell programming, persisted through evolution as a nongenetic adaptive mechanism to provide protection against long-term environmental variations that otherwise may cause the extinction of species not displaying this kind of adaptation

CAMBIO CLIMÁTICO, PREMONITOR DE UN DESASTRE SOCIOAMBIENTAL GLOBAL

During the last century climate changes developed on planet Earth, acquir¬ing in the last decades, such speed and intensity that allows us to qualify the situation as a climate emergency. It threatens on a global scale with an extinction of all living species, and in particular, the human species. This document analyzes some of the main causes related to emissions of greenhouse gases, mainly attributed to human activities. Other effects of climate changes on humans include: 1, spreading of tropical diseases; 2, floods; 3, hurricanes; 4, prolonged droughts; 5, increase in desertification zones; 6, massive species extinctions, and 7, increase in mortality rates due to hyperthermia and malnutrition. Some of the consequences of these events are: 1. Crisis of the economic models related to growth and goods production, which cast doubts on the current paradigms associated with wealth concentration and economic inequality increasing levels; 2 unem¬ployment increase due to robotization of services and goods production; 3, famines; 4, massive migrations, and 5, social turmoil, including toxic substances contamination. All these events may intensify armed conflicts between countries with threats of nuclear weapons use, pointing to a prob¬able end of our civilization, at least as we know it. There are policies that can stop this process by changing the growth and development models currently in use. We must consider that the current capitalist/neoliberal model is fed by consumerism of goods and services which prevents us from reestablishing the balance necessary for the health and wellbeing of the planet. This implies that all of humanity must embrace the challenge of following a new paradigm or model of growth and development, that takes into account both sustainability and maintainability independent of the market demands that keep them captive today.Durante el siglo pasado han ocurrido cambios climáticos en el planeta Tierra que, en las últimas décadas, adquieren tal velocidad e intensidad que nos colocan ante una emergencia climática, lo que pone en peligro de extinción a nivel planetario a las especies vivientes y en particular a la especie humana. Este documento analiza algunas de esas causas atribuidas mayoritariamente a emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero de origen esencialmente antropogénico. El calentamiento global y su consecuencia, el cambio climático, manifiesta los siguientes efectos sobre el ser humano: 1, aumento de enfermedades tropicales; 2, inundaciones; 3, huracanes; 4, prolongadas sequías; 5, zonas de desertificación; 6, extinción masiva de especies, y 7, aumento de mortalidad causado por hipertermia y desnutrición. Algunas consecuencias de estos eventos: 1, crisis de los modelos de crecimiento y consumo que ponen en cuestión los actuales paradigmas de aumento de la concentración de la riqueza y ampliación de los niveles de desigualdad; 2, incremento de cesantía por la creciente robotización del sistema productivo y de servicios; 3, hambrunas; 4, migraciones masivas, y 5, turbulencias sociales, que incluyen contaminación con agentes tóxicos. Esto agudiza los conflictos armados entre países, con la amenaza del uso de armas termonucleares, acentuándose la crisis terminal de nuestra civilización, al menos tal como la conocemos. Existen medidas para detener oportunamente este proceso mediante un cambio del modelo de desarrollo. Considerando que el actual sistema capitalista neoliberal se nutre con consumismo y el aumento de la producción de bienes y servicios, lo que impide el restablecimiento de los equilibrios del buen vivir en el planeta. Esto implica que la humanidad organizada debe plantearse el desafío de transitar hacia ese nuevo paradigma o modelo de desarrollo que considere a la sustentabilidad y la sostenibilidad alejadas de los parámetros del mercado que hoy las tienen cautiva

Cambio climático, premonitor de un desastre socioambiental global

During the last century climate changes developed on planet Earth, acquiring in the last decades, such speed and intensity that allows us to qualify the situation as a climate emergency. It threatens on a global scale with an extinction of all living species, and in particular, the human species. This document analyzes some of the main causes related to emissions of greenhouse gases, mainly attributed to human activities. Other effects of climate changes on humans include: 1, spreading of tropical diseases; 2, floods; 3, hurricanes; 4, prolonged droughts; 5, increase in desertification zones; 6, massive species extinctions, and 7, increase in mortality rates due to hyperthermia and malnutrition. Some of the consequences of these events are: 1. Crisis of the economic models related to growth and goods production, which cast doubts on the current paradigms associated with wealth concentration and economic inequality increasing levels; 2 unemployment increase due to robotization of services and goods production; 3, famines; 4, massive migrations, and 5, social turmoil, including toxic substances contamination. All these events may intensify armed conflicts between countries with threats of nuclear weapons use, pointing to a probable end of our civilization, at least as we know it. There are policies that can stop this process by changing the growth and development models currently in use. We must consider that the current capitalist/neoliberal model is fed by consumerism of goods and services which prevents us from reestablishing the balance necessary for the health and wellbeing of the planet. This implies that all of humanity must embrace the challenge of following a new paradigm or model of growth and development, that takes into account both sustainability and maintainability independent of the market demands that keep them captive today.Durante el siglo pasado han ocurrido cambios climáticos en el planeta Tierra que, en las últimas décadas, adquieren tal velocidad e intensidad que nos colocan ante una emergencia climática, lo que pone en peligro de extinción a nivel planetario a las especies vivientes y en particular a la especie humana. Este documento analiza algunas de esas causas atribuidas mayoritariamente a emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero de origen esencialmente antropogénico. El calentamiento global y su consecuencia, el cambio climático, manifiesta los siguientes efectos sobre el ser humano: 1, aumento de enfermedades tropicales; 2, inundaciones; 3, huracanes; 4, prolongadas sequías; 5, zonas de desertificación; 6, extinción masiva de especies, y 7, aumento de mortalidad causado por hipertermia y desnutrición. Algunas consecuencias de estos eventos: 1, crisis de los modelos de crecimiento y consumo que ponen en cuestión los actuales paradigmas de aumento de la concentración de la riqueza y ampliación de los niveles de desigualdad; 2, incremento de cesantía por la creciente robotización del sistema productivo y de servicios; 3, hambrunas; 4, migraciones masivas, y 5, turbulencias sociales, que incluyen contaminación con agentes tóxicos. Esto agudiza los conflictos armados entre países, con la amenaza del uso de armas termonucleares, acentuándose la crisis terminal de nuestra civilización, al menos tal como la conocemos. Existen medidas para detener oportunamente este proceso mediante un cambio del modelo de desarrollo. Considerando que el actual sistema capitalista neoliberal se nutre con consumismo y el aumento de la producción de bienes y servicios, lo que impide el restablecimiento de los equilibrios del buen vivir en el planeta. Esto implica que la humanidad organizada debe plantearse el desafío de transitar hacia ese nuevo paradigma o modelo de desarrollo que considere a la sustentabilidad y la sostenibilidad alejadas de los parámetros del mercado que hoy las tienen cautivas

Daidzein-Estrogen interaction in the rat uterus and its effect on human breast cancer cell growth

Sex hormone replacement therapy provides several advantages in the quality of life for climacteric women. However, estrogen-induced cell proliferation in the uterus and mammary gland increases the risk of cancer development in these organs. The lower incidence of mammary cancer in Asian women as compared with Western women has been attributed to high intake of soy isoflavones, including genistein. We have previously shown that genistein induces an estradiol-like hypertrophy of uterine cells, but does not induce cell proliferation, uterine eosinophilia, or endometrial edema. It also inhibits estradiol-induced mitosis in uterine cells and hormone-induced uterine eosinophilia and endometrial edema. Nevertheless, genistein stimulates growth of human breast cancer cells in culture; therefore, it is not an ideal estrogen for use in hormone replacement therapy (HRD). The present study investigated the effect of another soy isoflavone, daidzein (subcutaneous, 0.066 mg/kg body weight), in the