Action of the dioxin-like compound hexachlorobenzene in an experimental model of endometriosis in rats

MARCELA SANCHEZ; CHIAPPINI FLORENCIA; M BILOTAS; CAROLINA PONTILLO; ZOTTA E; CLAUDIA COCCA; MERESMAN G; ANDREA RANDI

Congreso; 50th Congress of the European Societies of Toxicology EUROTOX; 2014

Hexaclorobenzene (HCB) is a dioxin-like environmental pollutant associated with a broad spectrum of toxic effects, including endocrine disruption and immunological disorders. Endometriosis is a gynecologic disease characterized by growth of endometrial tissue in ectopic sites, causing infertility in women of reproductive age. It has been proposed that endocrine-disrupting compounds could play a role in the onset or the growth of endometriosis. The severity of endometrial lesions is associated with expression of metalloproteases (MMPS). Inhibition of Ciclooxigenase-2 (COX-2) decreases invasion of ectopic lesions by suppressing of MMP2-MMP9 activities. Besides, the development of the disease depends on the recruitment of new blood vessels. The aim of our study was to investigate if HCB promotes the development of experimental endometriosis-induced in rats. After 15 days post-surgery, rats were exposed to HCB (0, 1 and 100 mg/kg body weight) during 30 days.We analyzed endometrial lesions (L) and eutopic endometrium (E), evaluating angiogenesis by von Willenbrand (vW+) immunohistochemistry, MMPs and COX-2 expression by Western Blotting. Results: we found that HBC 100 increases: a) lesion volume (107%,p