Sexual difference in gonadal development of embryonic chickens after treatment of polychlorinated biphenyls

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are ubiquitous, persistent and lipophilic environmental endocrine disrupters that can be biomagnified in human and animals including birds and thus to affect reproductive functions. Poultry meat and eggs contain a great deal of fat and possibly concentrate higher PCBs and other environmental contaminants such as dichlorodiphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT). In order to identify the adverse effects of PCBs and possible sexual difference on chicken gonadal development, Aroclor 1254 was injected into fertilized Hyline chicken eggs before incubation. Four groups of eggs received yolk injection of either peanut oil as control, 1, 10 or 100 μg/egg of Aroclor 1254 as treatment group, respectively. After hatching the gonads were removed for histological examination. Testicular structure was apparently changed and exhibited dramatic decrease in area of the transverse sections (1 μg/egg,P < 0.01; 10 and 100 μg/egg,P < 0.001), diameter (10 and 100 μg/egg,P < 0.05) and relative area of the testicular tubules (10 μg/egg,P < 0.05; 100 μg/egg,P < 0.01). Most testicular tubules of the highest dose group degenerated and even disappeared. The differentiation of germ cells was retarded in all groups treated with Aroclor 1254. Some germ cells were irregular in shape, with vacuolated cytoplasm and hyperchromatism nucleus (pyknosis) in 1 and 10 μg/egg groups and almost all germ cells in 100 μg/egg group. In contrast, the area of the left ovarian transverse sections increased dramatically (10 and 100 μg/egg,P < 0.001), the ovarian cortex manifested a significant increment in thickness (1, 10 and 100 μg/egg,P < 0.001) and a higher number of oocytes was observed (1, 10 and 100 μg/egg,P < 0.001) in the female chickens treated with Aroclor 1254 compared with the control group. A few oocytes with vacuolated cytoplasm and hyperchromatic nucleus were also observed in ovarian cortex after PCBs exposure. These results showed that PCBs interfered with gonadal development with a sex-specific pattern and retarded differentiation of spermatogonia into spermatocytes but accelerated differentiation of oogonia into oocytes in the embryonic chickens.