Pesticides as endocrine disruptors and neurotoxicants

Abstract

Abstract The role of pesticides in the development of endocrine disorders and neurodegenerative diseases of humans and animals is currently being actively discussed. Epidemic and model studies confirm the link between the use of pesticides in agriculture and the occurrence of adverse changes in the nervous and endocrine systems of people and animals. But the mechanisms underlying pathological changes have not yet been identified. Among the leading links in the pathogenesis of neurotoxicity, oxidative stress, neuroinflammation and epigenetic modification can be distinguished. The cause of endocrine disorders may be low-dose hormone-like effects of pesticides, leading to changes in the synthesis and metabolism of the body’s own hormones. Due to the difficulty of establishing cause-effect relationships, as well as the presence of significant gaps in the study of the pathogenesis of chronic pesticide intoxications, further studies of the biological effects of low doses of pesticides are necessary in order to establish patterns of their influence on the population health of people and animals.