Cuttingedge Discoveries: Transforming Lives, Fueling the Economy

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Cutting-edge DiscoveriesTransforming
Lives,Fueling the Economy

• Fall 2006 Series

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• The Innovators
• Birth Defects and Older MothersPiercing
  Together the Genetic Puzzle

Patricia Hunt, Ph.D. Edward R. Meyer
Distinguished Professorin Life and Environmental
Science School of Molecular Biosciences
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• Is the incidence of infertility increasing?
• Are sperm counts falling?
• Is the incidence of cancer increasing?

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How compelling are the data?
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The Testis Dysgenesis Hypothesis

• Increase in testicular cancer
• Declining semen quality
• Increase in urogenital abnormalities

Skakkeback et al, 2001
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Infertility

• In 2002, 7.3 million women in the U.S.had
  difficulty conceiving or carryinga pregnancy to
  term

Natl Womens Health Information Ctr, 2002
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Management of theInfertile Womanby Helen Carcio
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Birth Rates by Age of MotherUnited States
1980-2002
National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 52, No.
10, December 17, 2003
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Female Fertility in the United States

• Changing demographics?
• Environmental influences?

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One in Ten Clinically Recognized Human
Pregnancies is Chromosomally Abnormal
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One in Ten Clinically Recognized Human
Pregnancies is Chromosomally Abnormal
gt90
gt1-2
lt10
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Maternal Age is a Major Factor
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HypothesisThe age effect is a reflection of
changesin the endocrine environment
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Altering the Hormone Environment Influences the
Egg
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Altering the Hormone Environment Influences the
Egg
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Altering the Hormone Environment Influences the
Egg
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Effects in Control Animals
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Hunt et al., Current Biology 2003
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A
B
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What and Where is Bisphenol A?

• Synthesized in the 1930s as a synthetic estrogen
• Now commonly used in the production of
  polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins

6.4 billion pounds produced last year
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Other Effects Associated with Bisphenol A
Exposure

• Earlier sexual maturation
• Altered estrus cycles
• Reduced sperm count
• Alterations in
• Prostate development
• Mammary tissue organization
• Brain sexual differentiation

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BPA The Next Set of Studies
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Do these studies translate to humans?

• BPA levels in human blood
• Ikezuki et al., 2002
• Schonfelder et al., 2002
• Calafat et al., 2005
• Association with obesity and polycystic ovary
• Takeuchi et al., 2004
• Association with recurrent miscarriage
• Sugiura-Orasawara et al.,2005

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• 20 of mated females become pregnant
• Late fetal death
• Poor survival of newborns
• Low weight at weaning

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Quaternary Ammonium Compounds (quats)

• Hospitals
• Home cleaning supplies
• Poultry and livestock industry
• Restaurants and food preparation

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How do we relate these data to humans?
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The Future
A prospective study of human pregnancy inthe
state of Washington?
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The Hunt/Hassold Laboratory
Aaron Batterbee Jon Cherry Sheila Cherry Matt
Garcia Laura Grindell Jodi Griswold Heather
Hall Jodi Jackson
Crystal Lawson Smith Lutu Ailene Muhlhauser Jacob
Spangler Martha Susiarjo Dan Topping Rhea Valente
NICHD and NIEHS
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• Coming Up
• The Innovators lecture series

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• The Innovators November 15, Seattle
• NanotechnologyThe Power to Fuel an Energy
  Revolution

M. Grant Norton, Ph.D. Herman and Brita Lindholm
Endowed Chair and Professor School of Mechanical
and Materials Engineering
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• The Innovators December 7, Spokane
• Epigenetics, Heredity, and the EnvironmentThe
  Ghost in Your Genes

Michael K. Skinner, Ph.D. Director and
Professor, Center for Reproductive BiologyCenter
for Integrated BiotechnologySchool of Molecular
Biosciences
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• For more information
• www.wsu.edu/theinnovators
• Toll free 1-877-978-3868