title: Dietary early-life exposure to contaminated eels does not impair spatial cognitive performances in adult offspring mice as assessed in the Y-maze and the Morris water maze.
abstract: Many environmental contaminants are introduced via the diet and may act as neurotoxins and endocrine disrupters, especially influencing growing organisms in early life. The purpose of this study was to examine whether dietary exposure of dams to fish naturally contaminated with xenobiotics, especially with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and heavy metals (e.g., mercury and lead), resulted in cognitive function deficits in adult offspring mice. Daily, four groups of dams (n = 10/group) ingested standard diet plus paste with/without eels, during gestation and lactation, from gestational day (GD) six until post natal day (PND) 21 (weaning). Dams orally ingested a standardized amount of eel (0.8 mg kg(-1) d(-1)) containing the six non-dioxin-like (NDL) PCBs (Σ6 NDL-PCBs: 28, 52, 101, 138, 153, and 180) at 0, 85, 216, and 400 ng kg(-1) d(-1). Results showed that early-life exposure to contaminated eels did not (compared to non-exposed controls) impair immediate working memory in the Y-maze in the offspring assessed at PND 38. Furthermore, it did not significantly impact spatial learning and retention memory as measured in the Morris water maze in adult offspring mice (PND 120-123). Our results suggest that perinatal exposure to contaminated eels does not affect spatial cognitive performances, as assessed by the Y-maze and Morris water maze at adult age. Adverse effects of xenobiotics reported earlier might be camouflaged by beneficial eel constituents, such as n-3 fatty acids. However, additional studies are needed to differentiate between potential positive and negative effects following consumption of food items both rich in nutrients and contaminants.
authors.affiliation: Université de Lorraine, Neurotoxicologie Alimentaire et Bioactivité, MRCA/UR AFPA/INRA, BP 4102, 57040 Metz, France; Unité de Biochimie des Lipides et Interaction des Macromolécules en Biologie (03/UR/0902), Laboratoire de Biochimie et Biologie Moléculaire, Faculté des Sciences de Bizerte, Zarzouna, Bizerte, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Imen
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Dridi
authors.affiliation: Université de Liège, CART (Center for Analytical and Research Technology), LEAE (Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Ecotoxicology), B-4000 Sart-Tilman, Belgium.
authors.forename: Delphine
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Leroy
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche Public - Gabriel Lippmann, Environment and Agro-Biotechnologies Department, 41, rue du Brill, L-4422 Belvaux, Luxembourg.
authors.forename: Cédric
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guignard
authors.affiliation: Université de Liège, CART (Center for Analytical and Research Technology), LEAE (Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Ecotoxicology), B-4000 Sart-Tilman, Belgium.
authors.forename: Georges
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Scholl
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche Public - Gabriel Lippmann, Environment and Agro-Biotechnologies Department, 41, rue du Brill, L-4422 Belvaux, Luxembourg.
authors.forename: Torsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bohn
authors.affiliation: Unité de Biochimie des Lipides et Interaction des Macromolécules en Biologie (03/UR/0902), Laboratoire de Biochimie et Biologie Moléculaire, Faculté des Sciences de Bizerte, Zarzouna, Bizerte, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Landoulsi
authors.affiliation: Université de Liège, CART (Center for Analytical and Research Technology), LEAE (Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Ecotoxicology), B-4000 Sart-Tilman, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Thomé
authors.affiliation: Université de Liège, CART (Center for Analytical and Research Technology), LEAE (Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Ecotoxicology), B-4000 Sart-Tilman, Belgium.
authors.forename: Gauthier
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Eppe
authors.affiliation: Université de Lorraine, Neurotoxicologie Alimentaire et Bioactivité, MRCA/UR AFPA/INRA, BP 4102, 57040 Metz, France.
authors.forename: Rachid
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Soulimani
authors.affiliation: Université de Lorraine, Neurotoxicologie Alimentaire et Bioactivité, MRCA/UR AFPA/INRA, BP 4102, 57040 Metz, France. Electronic address: jaouad.bouayed@univ-lorraine.fr.
authors.forename: Jaouad
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bouayed
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D011247:Pregnancy; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects; D004032:Diet; D004524:Eels; D005506:Food Contamination; D007774:Lactation; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000009:adverse effects; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000009:adverse effects; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D017747:Seafood; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000009:adverse effects; D015262:Xenobiotics / Q000009:adverse effects
chemical_list: D019216:Metals, Heavy; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D015262:Xenobiotics
keywords: Cognitive performances; Contaminants; Eels; Fatty fish; Methylmercury; PCBs