title: [Toxicity of intragastrically administered N, N-dimethylformamide in female Wistar rats].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the toxicity of intragastrically administered N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF) in female Wistar rats, and to provide experimental data for the overall evaluation of DMF toxicity under different ways of exposure.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty female Wistar rats weighing 150∼180 g were randomly divided into four groups: control group (treated with water) and three DMF exposure groups with doses of 50 mg/kg, 100 mg/kg, and 200 mg/kg. After oral administration of DMF once a day for 14 consecutive days, the rats were weighed and sacrificed. The liver, kidney, brain, and uterus were weighed to calculate organ indices. The pathological changes in the liver were examined by HE staining. The protein expression of HSP70 in the liver, kidney, and brain was determined. Finally, peripheral lymphocytes were collected from the arteria cruralis to determine DNA damage by comet assay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fourteen days after DMF exposure, the body weight and organ indices of the kidney, brain, and uterus showed no significant changes. However, the liver index showed concentration-dependent increase in all DMF exposed groups (3.52±0.21, 3.55±0.13, and 3.88±0.22 in the low-, medium-, and high-dose groups, respectively), as compared with the control group (3.24±0.28) (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). The pathological damage in the liver also showed a concentration-dependent manner. Inflammatory cell infiltration and granular degeneration in centrilobular hepatocytes were observed in the high-dose group. No significant change in protein expression of HSP70 was observed in the liver, kidney, or brain of DMF-exposed rats (P > 0.05). DNA damage was induced by DMF, and the DNA percentage of lymphocyte comet tail, average tail length, and tail moment in exposed groups were all significantly increased as compared with the control group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Gavaged DMF can induce liver injury and DNA damage in lymphocytes in rats 14 days after administration. There is no significant change in protein expression of HSP70 in the liver, brain, or kidney after DMF exposure.
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou 310051, China.
authors.forename: Mingluan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou 310051, China.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou 310051, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoming
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lou
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou 310051, China.
authors.forename: Meibian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou 310051, China.
authors.forename: Delei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou 310051, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xia
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D004249:DNA Damage / Q000187:drug effects; D004126:Dimethylformamide / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D005751:Gastric Lavage; D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D007668:Kidney / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D018675:Toxicity Tests
chemical_list: D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins; D004126:Dimethylformamide