title: Responsiveness of cerebral and hepatic cytochrome P450s in rat offspring prenatally exposed to lindane.
abstract: Prenatal exposure to low doses of lindane has been shown to affect the ontogeny of xenobiotic metabolizing cytochrome P450s (CYPs), involved in the metabolism and neurobehavioral toxicity of lindane. Attempts were made in the present study to investigate the responsiveness of CYPs in offspring prenatally exposed to lindane (0.25 mg/kg b. wt.; 1/350th of LD(50); p. o. to mother) when challenged with 3-methylcholanthrene (MC) or phenobarbital (PB), inducers of CYP1A and 2B families or a sub-convulsant dose of lindane (30 mg/kg b. wt., p. o.) later in life. Prenatal exposure to lindane was found to produce an increase in the mRNA and protein expression of CYP1A1, 1A2, 2B1, 2B2 isoforms in brain and liver of the offspring at postnatal day 50. The increased expression of the CYPs in the offspring suggests the sensitivity of the CYPs during postnatal development, possibly, to low levels of lindane, which may partition into mother's milk. A higher increase in expression of CYP1A and 2B isoenzymes and their catalytic activity was observed in animals pretreated prenatally with lindane and challenged with MC (30 mg/kg, i. p. x 5 days) or PB (80 mg/kg, i. p. x 5 days) when young at age (approx. 7 weeks) compared to animals exposed to MC or PB alone. Further, challenge of the control and prenatally exposed offspring with a single sub-convulsant dose of lindane resulted in an earlier onset and increased incidence of convulsions in the offspring prenatally exposed to lindane have demonstrated sensitivity of the CYPs in the prenatally exposed offspring. Our data assume significance as the subtle changes in the expression profiles of hepatic and cerebral CYPs in rat offspring during postnatal development could modify the adult response to a later exposure to xenobiotics.
authors.affiliation: Developmental Toxicology Division, Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (Formerly Industrial Toxicology Research Centre), P. O. Box 80, M. G. Marg, Lucknow-226 001, India.
authors.forename: Ashu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Johri
authors.forename: Sanjay
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yadav
authors.forename: Alok
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dhawan
authors.forename: Devendra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Parmar
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology*; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System / Q000378:metabolism*; D004790:Enzyme Induction / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D001556:Hexachlorocyclohexane / Q000633:toxicity*; D007306:Insecticides / Q000633:toxicity*; D008099:Liver / Q000201:enzymology*; D008297:Male; D008748:Methylcholanthrene / Q000494:pharmacology; D020258:Neurotoxicity Syndromes / Q000523:psychology; D010634:Phenobarbital / Q000494:pharmacology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D007306:Insecticides; D008748:Methylcholanthrene; D001556:Hexachlorocyclohexane; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System; D010634:Phenobarbital