Mixtures of substances disrupt hormone production

Åsa Ohlsson at SLU in Uppsala has examined the effect of some thirty chemicals on adrenocortical production of various steroid hormones. She used human adrenal gland cells and recorded the effects of the chemicals on the production and secretion of the hormones cortisol* and aldosterone** in the cell cultivation medium. The most common effect was that the chemicals inhibited secretion of these hormones, although in some cases it increased it.

She selected two groups of chemicals to study the effect of mixtures – imidazoles (fungicidal agents used in agriculture and medicine) and flavonoids (which occur naturally in food, e.g., soya beans and parsley). The results of these tests on adrenal gland cells were compared with mathematical models, which are usually used to theoretically assess the effects of mixtures of various chemicals. It was found that the models essentially worked well for both these groups of chemicals.

*Cortisol regulates the metabolism of carbohydrates and proteins.
**Aldosterone regulates salt concentration, and thus also blood pressure.