Effects of toxic substances on female reproduction

Abstract

Successful reproduction requires a complex series of interdependent physiological, cellular and molecular events. In the female many of these interdependent events are vulnerable to interruption by xenobiotic compounds. The physiological steps in the female reproductive cycle are reviewed. Selected xenobiotics which interrupt this cycle are presented and their mechanisms and site of adverse effects are discussed. Finally, a more detailed discussion of chemically induced ovarian failure in the human and an experimental animal model system is presented.