As a natural androgen, androstenedione (AED) may pose potential risks to aquatic organisms due to its ubiquitousness in aquatic environments. Here we assessed the adverse effects of AED on histology of gonads, as well as mRNA expression levels of 34 genes concerned with hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis, germ-cell differentiation and sex differentiation in zebrafish (Danio rerio). Adult zebrafish were exposed to solvent control and three measured concentrations of 0.2, 2.3 and 23.7 μg/L AED for 60 days. The results showed that AED did not induce any obvious histological effects in the ovaries and testes. Of the investigated genes, transcriptional expression levels of amh and cyp11c1 genes in the ovaries of females were significantly increased by AED at 2.3 or 23.7 μg/L. However, different exposure concentrations of AED significantly inhibited mRNA expression of gnrh3, atf4b1 and cyp19a1b in the brain of males. In the testes of males, AED at 2.3 μg/L led to a significant induction of sox9b gene, but it at 23.7 μg/L down-regulated nr5a1b gene. These observed transcriptional changes indicated that AED could pose potential androgenic effects in zebrafish.

中文翻译：

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雄烯二酮对成年斑马鱼的组织学和转录作用 (Danio rerio )

作为一种天然雄激素，雄烯二酮 (AED) 由于其在水生环境中无处不在，可能对水生生物构成潜在风险。在这里，我们评估了 AED 对性腺组织学的不利影响，以及与斑马鱼 (Danio rerio) 中下丘脑-垂体-性腺 (HPG) 轴、生殖细胞分化和性别分化相关的 34 个基因的 mRNA 表达水平。将成年斑马鱼暴露于溶剂控制和三种测量浓度的 0.2、2.3 和 23.7 μg/L AED 下 60 天。结果表明，AED在卵巢和睾丸中没有引起任何明显的组织学效应。在研究的基因中，2.3 或 23.7 μg/L 的 AED 显着增加了雌性卵巢中 amh 和 cyp11c1 基因的转录表达水平。然而，不同暴露浓度的AED显着抑制男性大脑中gnrh3、atf4b1和cyp19a1b的mRNA表达。在男性睾丸中，2.3 μg/L 的 AED 导致 sox9b 基因的显着诱导，但 23.7 μg/L 的 AED 下调 nr5a1b 基因。这些观察到的转录变化表明 AED 可能对斑马鱼产生潜在的雄激素作用。