Graduate School of Science and Technology, Institute of Environmental Studies, Graduate School of Fisheries Science and Environmental Studies, Nagasaki University, Japan.
J Pharmacol Sci. 2013;123(2):132-9. doi: 10.1254/jphs.13093fp. Epub 2013 Sep 27.
Bisphenol A (BPA) is an estrogenic endocrine disruptor used for producing polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. This study investigated the effects of perinatal BPA exposure on learning and memory, general activity, and emotionality in male Sprague Dawley rats using a battery of behavioral tests, including an appetite-motivated maze test (MAZE test) used to assess spatial learning and memory. Mother rats were orally administered BPA (50 or 500 μg∙kg(-1)/day) or vehicle (1 ml∙kg(-1)/day) from gestational day 10 to postnatal day 14. In the MAZE test, compared to the offspring of vehicle-treated rat mothers, male offspring of mothers exposed to 50 μg∙kg(-1)/day of BPA, but not those of mothers exposed to 500 μg∙kg(-1)/day of BPA, needed significantly more time to reach the reward. Although male offspring of mothers exposed to 50 μg∙kg(-1)/day of BPA showed an increase in a behavioral measure of wariness after repeated testing in the open-field test, no significant effects were observed in locomotor activities. No significant differences were observed in any other behavioral test including the elevated plus-maze test. The present study suggests that perinatal exposure to low-dose BPA specifically and non-monotonically impairs spatial learning and memory in male offspring rats.
双酚 A（BPA）是一种雌激素内分泌干扰物，用于生产聚碳酸酯塑料和环氧树脂。本研究通过一系列行为测试，包括用于评估空间学习和记忆的食欲动机迷宫测试（MAZE 测试），研究了围产期 BPA 暴露对雄性 Sprague Dawley 大鼠学习和记忆、一般活动和情绪的影响。从妊娠第 10 天到产后第 14 天，母鼠经口给予 BPA（50 或 500μg·kg(-1)/天）或载体（1ml·kg(-1)/天）。在 MAZE 测试中，与接受载体处理的母鼠的后代相比，暴露于 50μg·kg(-1)/天 BPA 的母鼠的雄性后代需要显著更多的时间才能到达奖励位置，但暴露于 500μg·kg(-1)/天 BPA 的母鼠的雄性后代则没有。尽管暴露于 50μg·kg(-1)/天 BPA 的母鼠的雄性后代在旷场测试中反复测试后警觉性的行为测量值增加，但在运动活动中未观察到显著影响。在其他任何行为测试中，包括高架十字迷宫测试，均未观察到显著差异。本研究表明，围产期低剂量 BPA 特异性且非单调地损害雄性后代大鼠的空间学习和记忆。
