Evidence of oxidative damage and reproductive dysfunction accompanying 4-vinylcyclohexene diepoxide exposure in female Wistar rats.

4-Vinylcyclohexene diepoxide (VCD) is an occupational chemical widely reported to deplete ovarian follicles in rodents. Here, we investigated VCD-induced reproductive dysfunction in female Wistar rats. The rats were orally administered with VCD (100, 250 and 500mg/kg) for twenty-eight days. Thereafter, we evaluated selected biomarkers of oxidative damage, inflammation, endocrine disruption, and apoptosis. We observed that VCD increased ovarian and uterine malondialdehyde (MDA) level, and catalase, glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) activities in rats (p<0.05). Also, VCD induced hormonal imbalance, increased ovarian superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, and depleted uterine SOD activity and ovarian glutathione (GSH) level in rats (p<0.05). Lastly, VCD markedly increase immunohistochemical expressions of ovarian cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), Caspase-9 and Caspase-3. Overall, VCD induced reproductive dysfunctions in rats via ovarian and uterine oxidative damage, hormonal imbalance, as well as inflammation and apoptosis in the ovary of rats.