Prenatal Exposure to an EDC Mixture, NeuroMix: Effects on Brain, Behavior, and Stress Responsiveness in Rats
Humans and wildlife are exposed to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) throughout their lives. Environmental EDCs are implicated in a range of diseases/disorders with developmental origins, including neurodevelopment and behavior. EDCs are most often studied one by one; here, we assessed outcomes...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-03-01
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| Series: | Toxics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6304/10/3/122 |
| _version_ | 1827625132174082048 |
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| author | Andrea C. Gore Tatum Moore Matthew J. Groom Lindsay M. Thompson |
| author_facet | Andrea C. Gore Tatum Moore Matthew J. Groom Lindsay M. Thompson |
| author_sort | Andrea C. Gore |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Humans and wildlife are exposed to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) throughout their lives. Environmental EDCs are implicated in a range of diseases/disorders with developmental origins, including neurodevelopment and behavior. EDCs are most often studied one by one; here, we assessed outcomes induced by a mixture designed to represent the real-world situation of multiple simultaneous exposures. The choice of EDCs, which we refer to as “NeuroMix,” was informed by evidence for neurobiological effects in single-compound studies and included bisphenols, phthalates, vinclozolin, and perfluorinated, polybrominated, and polychlorinated compounds. Pregnant Sprague Dawley rats were fed the NeuroMix or vehicle, and then offspring of both sexes were assessed for effects on postnatal development and behaviors and gene expression in the brain in adulthood. In order to determine whether early-life EDCs predisposed to subsequent vulnerability to postnatal life challenges, a subset of rats were also given a stress challenge in adolescence. Prenatal NeuroMix exposure decreased body weight and delayed puberty in males but not females. In adulthood, NeuroMix caused changes in anxiety-like, social, and mate preference behaviors only in females. Effects of stress were predominantly observed in males. Several interactions of NeuroMix and stress were found, especially for the mate preference behavior and gene expression in the brain. These findings provide novel insights into how two realistic environmental challenges lead to developmental and neurobehavioral deficits, both alone and in combination, in a sex-specific manner. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T12:23:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f01f2c80f8654c869668d94b6d5e6fcb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2305-6304 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T12:23:17Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Toxics |
| spelling | doaj.art-f01f2c80f8654c869668d94b6d5e6fcb2023-11-30T22:38:27ZengMDPI AGToxics2305-63042022-03-0110312210.3390/toxics10030122Prenatal Exposure to an EDC Mixture, NeuroMix: Effects on Brain, Behavior, and Stress Responsiveness in RatsAndrea C. Gore0Tatum Moore1Matthew J. Groom2Lindsay M. Thompson3Division of Pharmacology & Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USADivision of Pharmacology & Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USADivision of Pharmacology & Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USADivision of Pharmacology & Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USAHumans and wildlife are exposed to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) throughout their lives. Environmental EDCs are implicated in a range of diseases/disorders with developmental origins, including neurodevelopment and behavior. EDCs are most often studied one by one; here, we assessed outcomes induced by a mixture designed to represent the real-world situation of multiple simultaneous exposures. The choice of EDCs, which we refer to as “NeuroMix,” was informed by evidence for neurobiological effects in single-compound studies and included bisphenols, phthalates, vinclozolin, and perfluorinated, polybrominated, and polychlorinated compounds. Pregnant Sprague Dawley rats were fed the NeuroMix or vehicle, and then offspring of both sexes were assessed for effects on postnatal development and behaviors and gene expression in the brain in adulthood. In order to determine whether early-life EDCs predisposed to subsequent vulnerability to postnatal life challenges, a subset of rats were also given a stress challenge in adolescence. Prenatal NeuroMix exposure decreased body weight and delayed puberty in males but not females. In adulthood, NeuroMix caused changes in anxiety-like, social, and mate preference behaviors only in females. Effects of stress were predominantly observed in males. Several interactions of NeuroMix and stress were found, especially for the mate preference behavior and gene expression in the brain. These findings provide novel insights into how two realistic environmental challenges lead to developmental and neurobehavioral deficits, both alone and in combination, in a sex-specific manner.https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6304/10/3/122endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC)behaviorstressdevelopmentmixtureNeuroMix |
| spellingShingle | Andrea C. Gore Tatum Moore Matthew J. Groom Lindsay M. Thompson Prenatal Exposure to an EDC Mixture, NeuroMix: Effects on Brain, Behavior, and Stress Responsiveness in Rats Toxics endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC) behavior stress development mixture NeuroMix |
| title | Prenatal Exposure to an EDC Mixture, NeuroMix: Effects on Brain, Behavior, and Stress Responsiveness in Rats |
| title_full | Prenatal Exposure to an EDC Mixture, NeuroMix: Effects on Brain, Behavior, and Stress Responsiveness in Rats |
| title_fullStr | Prenatal Exposure to an EDC Mixture, NeuroMix: Effects on Brain, Behavior, and Stress Responsiveness in Rats |
| title_full_unstemmed | Prenatal Exposure to an EDC Mixture, NeuroMix: Effects on Brain, Behavior, and Stress Responsiveness in Rats |
| title_short | Prenatal Exposure to an EDC Mixture, NeuroMix: Effects on Brain, Behavior, and Stress Responsiveness in Rats |
| title_sort | prenatal exposure to an edc mixture neuromix effects on brain behavior and stress responsiveness in rats |
| topic | endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC) behavior stress development mixture NeuroMix |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6304/10/3/122 |
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