Effects of arsenic exposure during the pre- and postnatal development on the puberty of female offspring.
The (As) arsenic exposure is a risk factor for causing disturbances in the endocrine organs.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate if sub-chronic As exposure during the pre- and postnatal development causes disturbances in the puberty. Moreover, determine adverse effects of As on the ovarian follicle and adrenocortical cell maturation.


METHODS
Females adult Wistar rats were exposed to sodium arsenite at 3 ppm calculated as As in drinking water from mating, gestation. Following the birth, the female offspring continued exposured to As via lactation. Weaned pups received the same As treatment as mothers, until they were 1-4 months (mo) old. At these ages, blood sampling and tissue harvest were done. The tissues were fixed in situ with 4% paraformaldehyde in phosphate buffer. After the perfusion the ovaries, uterus, adrenal glands were harvested, dissected out, weighted. The ovaries and the adrenal glands were processed to paraffin and sectioned at 5 μM and stained with hematoxylin and eosin for light microscopy.


METHODS
Comparisons between groups were made by unpaired t-test or nonparametric Mann-Whitney test as appropriate.


RESULTS
100% As treated rats at 1 mo of age were at diestrous stage, with low estradiol E2. As treatment caused disturbances in the morphology of the ovarian cell consisting in DNA damage evidenced by picknotic chromatin, cariorexis, significant cytoplasmic vacuolization and also vasculature damaged. Arrest in follicle maturation was also present.


CONCLUSIONS
We found that the onset of puberty in the As treated rats was 1 mo delayed since vagina was still closed, the vaginal smear showed that they were at diestrus stage with plasma low E2 levels.
Dávila-Esqueda
Ma Eugenia
ME
Departamento de Farmacología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, Av. V. Carranza 2405 Los Filtros, 78210 San Luis Potosí, S.L.P., Mexico. medavila@uaslp.mx
Jiménez-Capdeville
Ma Esther
ME
Delgado
Juan Manuel
JM
De la Cruz
Esperanza
E
Aradillas-García
Celia
C
Jiménez-Suárez
Verónica
V
Escobedo
Reynaldo Falcón
RF
Llerenas
Joel Rodríguez
JR
D000302:Adrenal Cortex / Q000187:drug effects / Q000196:embryology / Q000254:growth & development; D000375:Aging / Q000097:blood / Q000187:drug effects*; D000818:Animals; D018053:Arsenites / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000633:toxicity*; D004958:Estradiol / Q000097:blood; D030762:Estrous Cycle / Q000097:blood / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D007774:Lactation; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011374:Progesterone / Q000097:blood; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012741:Sexual Maturation / Q000187:drug effects*; D017670:Sodium Compounds / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000633:toxicity*; D014621:Vagina / Q000187:drug effects / Q000196:embryology / Q000254:growth & development
D018053:Arsenites; D017670:Sodium Compounds; C017947:sodium arsenite; D011374:Progesterone; D004958:Estradiol