Editorial: Centennial Celebration – A Focus on Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals… One Hundred Years in the Making

In this month's issue of Molecular Endocrinology, we continue our series of topically themed issues marking the centennial of our sister journal, Endocrinology. The theme for this month's centennial issue is endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), which we explore through a collection of 6 pieces: 2 editorials, including an interview with a leader in the field; 2 reviews; an original research article; and a resource article that mines genomic data to understand the effects of xenobiotic signaling.

EDCs: “exogenous chemicals, or mixtures of chemicals, that can interfere with any aspect of hormone action.” – The Endocrine Society (2012)

In a 2012 position paper (1), The Endocrine Society defined EDCs as “exogenous chemicals, or mixtures of chemicals, that can interfere with any aspect of hormone action.” The “interference”, which can cause a variety of adverse outcomes in various organ systems, is manifest through the binding of the EDC to endogenous endocrine receptors (2, 3). The EDC-receptor interactions ultimately improperly activate or block the receptor-mediated signaling pathways, or alter the synthesis and degradation of endogenous hormones (2, 3). The combined effect is abnormal endocrine functions that may lead to adverse health outcomes (4).

The concept of EDCs has evolved over the past half century, from when it was first proposed in the 1950s (5), through the initial studies linking some chemicals to cancers and reproductive anomalies in humans and animals (6–9), to the current public consciousness of EDC exposures (eg, bisphenol A) from plastics used in water bottles and other common items (10). The extent to which EDCs pose a serious global health risk has been debated in the past, but considerable evidence now supports the conclusion that a broad range of environmentally persistent chemicals can act as EDCs and promote adverse health effects (1, 2, 4).

We are fortunate to have contributions for this issue from a number of leaders in the field. In an editorial, Flaws (11) provides an interview with Dr Ana Soto from the Tufts School of Medicine, a pioneer in the field who gives her perspectives on key issues related to EDCs. In separate minireviews, Schug et al (4) provide an overview of the history of EDCs that has led to our current thinking and understanding, whereas Walker (12) explores the role of epigenetic and epigenomic and modifications, which may underlie the biological effects of EDCs. In an original research article, Wang et al (13) describe how epigenomic reprogramming by MLL1 links environmental exposures to prostate cancer. Finally, in a resource article, Ochsner et al (14) mine data from the Nuclear Receptor Signaling Atlas' Transcriptomine database (15) to determine a “consensus” transcriptome for xenobiotic signaling through constitutive androstane receptor and pregnane X receptor. Collectively, these pieces provide a good overview of the field of EDCs, from the past to the present.