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EDITORIAL

Correspondence:

Ewa Rajpert-De Meyts

E-mail: [email protected]

doi: 10.1111/andr.12243

Special issue on endocrine disruption and reproductive health

1 E. Rajpert-De Meyts and

2 D. T. Carrell

1Department of Growth and Reproduction, Copenhagen University Hospital (Rigshospitalet), Copenhagen, Denmark, and 2Departments of Surgery (Urology), Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Human Genetics, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

It is our pleasure to introduce to our readers a special thematic

issue of Andrology. This is the third of such publications, follow-

ing one special issue focused on genetic aspects of male infertil-

ity (Krausz & Carell, 2014) and another comprising papers on

basic and clinical aspects of testicular germ cell cancer (Rajpert-

De Meyts et al., 2015).

The current issue is devoted to the timely topic of endocrine

disruption and the role of this mechanism in the pathogenesis of

increasingly widespread reproductive disorders. This is a very

important issue that remains to be hotly debated in scientific

and political circles due to conflicting interests from chemical

and pharmacological industry, agriculture, governmental com-

mittees as well as NGOs and consumer organizations. On the

one hand, many compounds have immensely contributed to

protecting our health (e.g. from pests) and facilitating daily life.

On the other hand, some of the commonly used chemicals

turned out to have unexpected negative effects on other aspects

of our health, with the endocrine system particularly vulnerable.

The debate has been additionally fueled by conflicting data from

research labs working on different species and often using doses

not reflecting the real exposure. Despite these controversies, the

field has been expanding because of the constant stream of

newly identified endocrine disrupters and novel pathways they

affect. The current status of the field is nicely summarized in the

editorial opening this issue (Andersson et al., 2016).

The content of this special issue highlights some of the perti-

nent topics in the field of endocrine disruption that are of rele-

vance to andrologists and researchers interested in male

reproduction. However, the issue also contains a few articles that

deal with female reproduction and neuroendocrinology. Most of

the articles are based on lectures presented at the 8th

Copenhagen Workshop on Endocrine Disrupters, held in May

2015. These meetings have grown to be the preeminent gather-

ing of leading experts in the field that sets a tone for research in

the field.

We are proud that Andrology participates in the dissemination

of data presented at this and other ‘cutting-edge’ meetings. We

have also added a handful of thematically matching papers sub-

mitted to Andrology independently of the meeting. All papers in

this special issue underwent a usual stringent review process

according to the journal’s standard. The issue has been edited by

a guest associate editor, Anna-Maria Andersson, the main orga-

nizer of the Copenhagen meeting, and the director of the Danish

Center for Endocrine Disrupters (www.cend.dk), founded by the

Danish Ministry of Environment, which also supported the

meeting financially. She was helped by members of the Pro-

gramme Committee, Katrine Bay, Hanne Frederiksen, and Niels

E. Skakkebæk, as well as Kenneth Grigor, who edited the meeting

comments included in some of the papers. We are grateful for

their contribution, and hope that our readers will find the issue

interesting.

REFERENCES Andersson AM, Bay K, Frederiksen H & Skakkebaek NE. (2016) Endocrine

disrupters: we need research, biomonitoring, and action. Andrology 4,

556–560.

Krausz C & Carell DT. (2014) Advances in understanding the genetics

underlying male infertility and evolving diagnostic and treatment

options. Andrology 2, 302–303.

Rajpert-De Meyts E, Daugaard G, Almstrup K, Jørgensen A, Rørth M,

Jørgensen N, von der Maase H & Skakkebaek NE. (2015) Increasing

international efforts to understand and conquer testicular germ cell

cancer. Andrology 3, 1–3.

© 2016 American Society of Andrology and European Academy of Andrology Andrology, 2016, 4, 555 555

ISSN: 2047-2919 ANDROLOGY

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