Estrogenic effects of organochlorine pesticides on uterine leiomyoma cells in vitro.

Although benign, uterine leiomyomas occur with high frequency and significant morbidity in reproductive-age women, and they present a significant health problem. Leiomyomas develop in the uterine myometrium and are sensitive to ovarian hormones, making them potential target sites for endocrine disruptors. Here we utilize cell lines derived from rat uterine leiomyomas to determine if a panel of 7 organochlorine pesticides have potential agonist activity in myometrial cells using cellular and molecular in vitro assays. The organochlorine pesticides investigated have been previously characterized as having agonist activity in other hormonally responsive tissues, but their effects have not been studied in uterine myometrial cells. In Eker rat leiomyoma-derived cells, HPTE, kepone, and the alpha isomer of endosulfan stimulated proliferation, an effect dampened by the antiestrogen ICI 182,780. In addition, these compounds stimulated transcription of the vitellogenin estrogen-response element via the ER in a transcriptional reporter gene assay and induced the expression of an endogenous estrogen-responsive gene, the progesterone receptor (PR). This contrasted with the agonist profile of methoxychlor, dieldrin, toxaphene, and endosulfan-beta. These compounds, unable to stimulate proliferation of uterine leiomyoma cells, did exhibit agonistic activity in these cells at the transcriptional level in the estrogen-sensitive reporter gene assay, and they were also able to upregulate PR message. These data demonstrate that organochlorine pesticides act as estrogen receptor agonists in Eker rat uterine myometrial cells, and they indicate a need for further investigation of the potential tissue-specific agonist activity of these pesticides and their role in the pathogenesis of uterine leiomyoma.