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Reproductive endocrinology

Paracetamol-induced endocrine disruption in human fetal testes

Paracetamol is the most frequently used medication during pregnancy. Among concerns about its prenatal use, the association with failure of the testes to descend in neonates is the latest. A new study investigating the origin of this malformation reports that paracetamol can reduce testosterone levels in host mice transplanted with human fetal testis tissue.

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Figure 1: Phases of testicular descent and their regulation.

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Acknowledgements

B.J. acknowledges funding support from the Agence Nationale de Sécurité du Medicament (ANSM, grant no. AAP-2012-037), the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), the University of Rennes 1 and the Ecole des Hautes Études en Santé Publique (EHESP – School of Public Health).

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Correspondence to Bernard Jégou.

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Jégou, B. Paracetamol-induced endocrine disruption in human fetal testes. Nat Rev Endocrinol 11, 453–454 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2015.106

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