Abraham Brouwer

TL;DR: Several pure PBDE congeners, but especially HO-PBDEs and brominated bisphenol A-analogs, are agonists of both ER alpha and ER beta receptors, thus stimulating ER-mediated luciferase induction in vitro and suggesting that in vivo metabolism of PBDEs may produce more potent pseudoestrogens.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a data base containing information relevant to the setting of Toxic Equivalency Factors (TEFs), and, based on the available information, to assess the relative potencies and to derive consensus TEFs for PCDDs, PCDFs and dioxin-like PCBs.

TL;DR: For some BFRs, the potency to induce AR antagonism, E2SULT inhibition, and TTR competition was higher than for natural ligands or clinical drugs used as positive controls, which support further investigation of the potential ED effects of these environmentally relevant B FRs in man and wildlife.

TL;DR: A profound similarity in structural requirements for TTR binding between hydroxy-PCB, -PCDD and -PCDF metabolites and the physiological ligand, T4 is found, e.g. halogen substitution adjacent to the para hydroxy group, while planarity does not seem to influence the ligand-binding potency.

TL;DR: It is suggested that reduced plasma retinol and thyroid hormone levels, which may result in an increased susceptibility to microbial infections, reproductive disorders and other pathological alterations, are critically involved in the recently reported reproductive Disorders and the lethal viral infections in seals and other marine mammal populations in the Baltic, North Sea and Wadden Sea.