Round-Up Sprayed in homes and schools...
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As many of you may know, RoundUp was the pesticide that
destroyed my life as I knew it in 1996. It
threw me into early menopause, and disrupted many of my hormonal functions.
I now have thyroid nodules, mastocytosis, toxin acquired porphyria,
seizure disorder, kidney malfunctioning, an impaired liver, and a few other
diagnoses.
RoundUp works in plants by damaging the P-450 enzyme
system. Its effect on me was quite
similar in that it damaged my liver's detoxification system.
I could never prove the hormonal disruption caused by RoundUp until now
even though I suffered the consequences of it.
This is the first study I have seen that addresses the fact
that RoundUp damages the P-450 enzyme system in humans also.
It goes even further, and says, "StAR protein mediates the
rate-limiting and acutely regulated step in steroidogenesis, the transfer of
cholesterol from the outer to the inner mitochondrial membrane where the
cytochrome P450 side chain cleavage (P450scc) enzyme initiates the synthesis of
all steroid hormones."
AND
"Roundup inhibited steroidogenesis by disrupting StAR
protein expression, further demonstrating the susceptibility of StAR to
environmental pollutants."
(See below also a definition of steroid hormone.)
Additional Information is available at
http://www.science.mcmaster.ca/Biology/4S03/hd4.html in an article by by:
Leela Marie D'Cruz reporting on the Hormone Disrupters in the Environment:
Human and Wildlife Health Issues Conference with Speaker: Keith R. Solomon,
Ph.D., Centre for Toxicology, University of Guelph on March 10, 1995,
entitled 'Hormone Disrupters in the Environment, Environmental levels and
Effects'.
***************************
My Conclusion: RoundUp has just been conclusively identified as an
Endocrine Disruptor, and as such needs to be banned.
***************************
Roundup Inhibits Steroidogenesis by Disrupting Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory (StAR) Protein Expression
Lance P. Walsh,1 Chad McCormick,1 Clyde Martin,2 and Douglas M. Stocco1
1Department of Cell Biology and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University Health
Sciences Center,
Lubbock, Texas, USA
2Department of Mathematics, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, USA
Abstract
Recent reports demonstrate that many currently used
pesticides have the capacity to disrupt reproductive function in animals.
Although this reproductive dysfunction is typically characterized by alterations
in serum steroid hormone levels, disruptions in spermatogenesis, and loss of
fertility, the mechanisms involved in pesticide-induced infertility remain
unclear.
Because testicular Leydig cells play a crucial role in male
reproductive function by producing testosterone, we used the mouse MA-10 Leydig
tumor cell line to study the molecular events involved in pesticide-induced
alterations in steroid hormone biosynthesis. We previously showed that the
organochlorine insecticide lindane and the organophosphate insecticide
Dimethoate directly inhibit steroidogenesis in Leydig cells by disrupting
expression of the steroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR) protein.
StAR protein mediates the rate-limiting and acutely
regulated step in steroidogenesis, the transfer of cholesterol from the outer to
the inner mitochondrial membrane where the cytochrome P450 side chain cleavage
(P450scc) enzyme initiates the synthesis of all steroid hormones. In the present
study, we screened eight currently used pesticide formulations for their ability
to inhibit steroidogenesis, concentrating on their effects on StAR expression in
MA-10 cells. In addition, we determined the effects of these compounds on the
levels and activities of the P450scc enzyme (which converts cholesterol to
pregnenolone) and the 3ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3ß-HSD) enzyme (which
converts pregnenolone to progesterone). Of the pesticides screened, only the
pesticide Roundup inhibited dibutyryl [(Bu)2]cAMP-stimulated progesterone
production in MA-10 cells without causing cellular toxicity. Roundup inhibited
steroidogenesis by disrupting StAR protein expression, further demonstrating the
susceptibility of StAR to environmental pollutants.
Key words: chemical mixtures, cytochrome P450 side chain
cleavage, environmental endocrine disruptor, 3ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase,
Leydig cells, Roundup, steroid hormones, steroidogenesis, steroidogenic acute
regulatory protein. Environ Health Perspect 108:769-776 (2000). [Online 12 July
2000]
http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2000/108p769-776walsh/abstract.html
Address correspondence to D.M. Stocco, Department of Cell Biology and
Biochemistry, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX
79409 USA.
Telephone: (806) 743-2505.
Fax: (806) 743-2990.
E-mail: doug.stocco@ttmc.ttuhsc.edu
From:
http://www.healthlink.us-inc.com/publiclibrary/htm-data/htm-def/def189.htm
STEROID HORMONE: Fats similar to, and usually synthesized
from, cholesterol, starting with Acetyl-CoA, moving through squalene, past
lanosterol, into cholesterol, and, in the gonads and adrenal cortex, back to a
number of steroid hormones.
Nearly all of the classic hormones are proteins or smaller
peptides; they don't get inside a cell (the membrane keeps them out); instead,
they bind to, and initiate, cell changes from the outside. The exceptions are
the thyroxines (from the thyroid) and the steroid hormones. They move into the
cell, bind with receptors, and initiate changes in the way a cell regenerates
itself or synthesizes new compounds.
Because the steroid hormones stimulate cell growth, either
by changing the internal structure or increasing the rate of proliferation, they
are often called anabolic steroids.
Estrogen, an ovarian steroid, when secreted into the
bloodstream, will be bound within a short time by internal receptors inside
those cells that need estrogen for their growth; the unused portion is partially
broken down, mostly in the liver, and partially stored in a less active form by
adipose tissue.
Since luteinizing hormone from the pituitary is surged in
pulses an hour apart, the estrogen is also surged from the reacting ovaries, and
by the time more estrogen is available, the binding cells need more; their
program of synthesis has run out and needs to be started again.
Peace and Light,
Suzanne Fisher
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