Lifestyle and fertility: how pesticides and cafeteria diet affects the uterine development and female fertility

VARAYOUD J; MILESI MM; INGARAMO P; GUERRERO SCHIMPF ML; GASTIAZORO MP; ZANARDI MV; DURANDO M; LORENZ V; RAMOS JG; LUQUE EH

Congreso; SLIMP Latin American Society for Maternal Fetal Interaction and Placenta; 2017

Infertility affects up to 15% of reproductive-agedcouples worldwide. Evidence is mounting that lifestyle factors, such asexposure to chemicals and diet, affect uterine functions and maycontribute toinfertility. We evaluate the consequences of cafeteria diet and pesticideexposure on uterine development and female fertility. Usinga rat model we observed that low doses of endosulfan and low doses of aglyphosate-based herbicide disrupt the expression of genes that regulateuterine development and differentiation during the pre-pubertal period. Inaddition, we studied long-term effects of pesticides and cafeteria dietonreproductive performance and implantation and post-implantation processes. Bothpesticides affected female fertility, but in different ways. Low doses ofendosulfan decreased the number of implantation sites. In the case of theglyphosate-based herbicide, there isan increased number of resorption sites. Toaddress the effects of postnatal pesticide exposure on the pregnant uterus, weevaluated the endometrial proliferation and the expression of implantation anddecidualization-associated genes. Both pesticides impaired endometrialproliferation and altered the expression of endocrine-regulatedgene pathways. The cafeteria diet did not producesubfertility but the foetal growth and placental development were altered. Inaddition, we found epigenetic modifications associated with the alteration ofuterine gene expression. Based on the evidence presented here and previouslypublished data, we conclude that some pesticides and cafeteria diet are likelyto diminish fertility in a laboratory animal model. More studies are needed toidentify that these lifestyle factors maycontribute to the decline in human fertility observed in the past decades.