https://www.selleckchem.com/products/abr-238901.html Tebuconazole is a triazole fungicide, used in agriculture to treat phytopathogenic fungi, and as a biocide, has been reported to be related to reproductive and developmental toxicity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of tebuconazole exposure on rat fetal Leydig cells and fetal testis during pregnancy. Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 4 groups, daily gavaged with corn oil (as a control), 25, 50, and 100 mg/kg body weight tebuconazole for 10 days (from the 12th day of pregnancy). Tebuconazole increased fetal serum testosterone and progesterone levels at a dose of 100 mg/kg. Exposure to 100 mg/kg tebuconazole significantly caused an increase in the number of fetal Leydig cells per testis without inducing cell aggregation. Tebuconazole up-regulated the expression of Star, Cyp11a1, Hsd17b3, and Fshr and their proteins. Further investigation found that tebuconazole caused increased phosphorylation of AKT1, ERK1/2, and mTOR, the level of BCL2, as well as the decrease of Beclin1, LC3B, and BAX, which may contribute to the fetal Leydig cell autophagy and proliferation. In conclusion, in utero exposure of tebuconazole causes the proliferation of fetal Leydig cells.Beans of cacao (Theobroma cacaoL.) are used to produce a variety of chocolate products. Bioaccumulation of metals at toxic levels through the consumption of contaminated products has been identified as a health concern in humans. Both metal diversity and concentration as well as their interactions in the soil influence essential and non-essential metal uptake in plants; but the effects of these on bioaccumulation of metals in cacao is not understood across diverse soil types. In this study eight metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) were investigated in 12 soil subgroups belonging to four soil orders across 15 locations in Trinidad, with the aim to investigate the effect of soil metal diversity and concentration