Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are ubiquitous in daily life, but their harmful effects on the human body have not been fully explored. Recent studies have shown that EDCs exposure could lead to infertility, menstrual disorder and menopause, resulting in subsequent effects on female health. Therefore, it is of great significance to clarify and summarize the impacts of EDCs on ovarian aging for explaining the etiology of ovarian aging and maintaining female reproductive health. Here in this review, we focused on the impacts of ten typical environmental contaminants on the progression of ovarian aging during adult exposure, including epidemiological data in humans and experimental models in rodents, with their clinical phenotypes and underlying mechanisms. We found that both persistent (polychlorinated biphenyls, perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances) and non-persistent (phthalates) EDCs exposure could increase an overall risk of ovarian aging, leading to the diminish of ovarian reserve, decline of fertility or fecundity, irregularity of the menstrual cycle and an earlier age at menopause, and/or premature ovarian insufficiency/failure in epidemiological studies. Among these, the loss of follicles can also be validated in experimental studies of some EDCs, such as BPA, phthalates, parabens and PCBs. The underlying mechanisms may involve the impaired ovarian follicular development by altering receptor-mediated pro-apoptotic pathways, inducing signal transduction and cell cycle arrest and epigenetic modification. However, there were inconsistent results in the impacts on fertility/fecundity, menstrual/estrous cycle and hormone changes response to different EDCs, and differences between human and animal studies. Our review summarizes the current state of knowledge on ovarian disrupters, highlights their risks to ovarian aging and identifies knowledge gaps in humans and animals. We therefore propose that females adopt healthy lifestyle changes to minimize their exposure to both persistent and non-persistent chemicals, that have the potential damage to their reproductive function.

Herein, the first evidence of the ability of melatonin (MLT) to counteract cadmium (Cd) toxic effects on the rat ovary is reported. Cd treatment, enhancing oxidative stress, provoked clear morphological, histological and biomolecular alterations, i.e. in the estrous cycle duration, in the ovarian and serum E₂ concentration other than in the steroidogenic and folliculogenic genes expression. Results demonstrated that the use of MLT, in combination with Cd, avoided the changes, strongly suggesting that it is an efficient antioxidant for preventing oxidative stress in the rat ovary. Moreover, to explore the underlying mechanism involved, at molecular level, in the effects of Cd-MLT interaction, the study focused on the mTOR and ERK1/2 pathways. Interestingly, data showed that Cd influenced the phosphorylation status of mTOR, of its downstream effectors and of ERK1/2, inducing autophagy and apoptosis, while cotreatment with MLT nullified these changes. This work highlights the beneficial role exerted by MLT in preventing Cd-induced toxicity in the rat ovary, encouraging further studies to confirm its action on human ovarian health with the aim to use this indolamine to ameliorate oocyte quality in women with fertility disorders.

Embryonic exposure to environmental chemicals may result in specific chronic diseases in adulthood. Parabens, a type of environmental endocrine disruptors widely used in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, have been shown to cause a decline in women's reproductive function. However, whether exposure to parabens during pregnancy also negatively affect the ovarian function of the female offspring in adulthood remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the effects of prenatal propylparaben (PrP) exposure on the ovarian function of adult mice aged 46 weeks, which is equivalent to the age of 40 years in women. Pregnant ICR mice were intraperitoneally injected with human-relevant doses of PrP (i.e., 0, 7.5, 90, and 450 mg/kg/day) during the fetal sex determination period—from embryonic day E7.5 to E13.5. Our results revealed that ovarian aging was accelerated in PrP-exposed mice at 46 weeks, with altered regularity of the estrous cycle, decreased serum estrogen (E2) and progesterone (P4) levels, reduced size of the primordial follicle pool, and increased number of atretic follicles. It was found that prenatal exposure to human-relevant doses of PrP exacerbated ovarian oxidative stress, inflammation, and fibrosis, which promoted follicular atresia by activating the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway. To compensate, the depletion of primordial follicles was also accelerated by activating the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway in PrP-exposed mice. Moreover, PrP induced hypermethylation of CpG sites in the promoter region of Cyp11a1 (a 17.16–64.28% increase) partly led to the disrupted steroidogenesis, and the altered methylation levels of imprinted genes H19 and Peg3 may also contribute to the phenotypes observed. These remarkable findings highlight the embryonic origin of ovarian aging and suggest that a reduced use of PrP during pregnancy should be advocated.

Hexachloronaphthalene (HxCN) is one of the most toxic and most bioaccumulative congeners of polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) known to be present in animal and human adipose tissue. Unfortunately, little data is available regarding the negative effect of PCNs on endocrine function. The aim of the study was to investigate the direct influence of subacute (two and four-week) and subchronic (13-week) daily oral exposure of female rats to 30, 100 and 300 μg kg b.w.⁻¹ HxCN on ovarian, thyroid function and neurotransmitters level. The levels of selected sex hormones (progesterone: P and estradiol: E2) in the serum and uterus, regularity of estrous cycle, levels of thyroid hormones (fT3 and fT4), TSH, γ-aminobutyric acid and glutamate levels in selected brain areas and the activity of CYP1A1 and CYP2B in the liver were examined. Estrogenic action (elevated E2 concentration in the uterus and serum) was observed only after subacute exposure, and antiestrogenic activity (decreased E2 level and uterus weight) after 13 weeks administration of 300 μg kg b.w.⁻¹ day⁻¹. Subchronic administration of HxCN significantly lengthens the estrous cycle, by up to almost 50%, and increases the number of irregular cycles. In addition, increased TSH and decreased fT4 serum levels were observed after all doses and durations of exposure to HxCN. Only subacute exposure led to a significant decrease in the level of examined neurotransmitters in all analyzed structures. Additionally, exposure to low doses of HxCN appears to lead to strong induction of CYP1A1 in a liver. It can be hypothesized that HxCN produces effects which are very similar to those caused by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) and dioxin-like compounds (DLCs), particularly concerning endocrine and estrous cyclicity disorders. Therefore, HxCN exposure may exert unexpected effects on female fecundity among the general population.

Cadmium (Cd) is regarded as a potential endocrine disruptor. However, the exact mechanism by which this metal may interfere with the reproductive system has not yet been elucidated. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of subacute Cd oral administration at daily doses of 0.09, 1.8, and 4.5 mgCd/kg b.w. and the impact of Cd on sex hormones (estradiol (E₂) and progesterone (P)) in the plasma and uterus, as well as on estrous cyclicity and histopathological changes in uterine and ovary in female rats after terminating the exposure and after a prolonged observation period (3 months). Moreover, Cd bioaccumulation in the uterine and brain tissue of rats was analyzed. The study revealed that oral Cd exposure induced changes in the plasma levels of steroid hormones: decrease in E₂ and increase in P after the highest dose of Cd. Probably, for the first time, it was evidenced that circulation sex hormone disturbances in Cd-exposed rats caused irregular estrous cycle, persisting for 3 months after exposure termination; no alterations in these hormone levels in uterine tissue were noted. Cd did not induce estradiol-like hyperplasia of endometrium, but resulted in endometrial edema irrespective of the dose, and caused damage of the ovaries after the highest dose. In summary, subacute oral exposure of female rats to Cd may lead to long-term disturbances in reproductive system.