National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Toxicity Assessment Division, US Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709.
Oak Ridge Institute for Science Education, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37803.
Toxicol Sci. 2018 May 1;163(1):101-115. doi: 10.1093/toxsci/kfy016.
Thyroid hormones (THs) are essential for brain development, but few rodent models exist that link TH inefficiency to apical neurodevelopmental endpoints. We have previously described a structural anomaly, a heterotopia, in the brains of rats treated in utero with propylthiouracil (PTU). However, how the timing of an exposure relates to this birth defect is unknown. This study seeks to understand how various temporal treatments of the mother relates to TH insufficiency and adverse neurodevelopment of the offspring. Pregnant rats were exposed to PTU (0 or 3 ppm) through the drinking water from gestational day 6 until postnatal day (PN) 14. On PN2 a subset of pups was cross-fostered to a dam of the opposite treatment, to create 4 conditions: pups exposed to PTU prenatally, postnatally, during both periods, or not at all (control). Both PTU and TH concentrations were characterized in the mother and offspring over time, to capture the dynamics of a developmental xenobiotic exposure. Brains of offspring were examined for heterotopia presence and severity, and adult littermates were assessed for memory impairments. Heterotopia were observed under conditions of prenatal exposure, and its severity increased in animals in the most prolonged exposure group. This malformation was also permanent, but not sex biased. In contrast, behavioral impairments were limited to males, and only in animals exposed to PTU during both the gestational and postnatal periods. This suggests a distinct TH-dependent etiology for both phenotypes, and illustrates how timing of hypothyroxinemia can induce abnormal brain structure and function.
甲状腺激素(THs)对大脑发育至关重要,但很少有啮齿动物模型能将 TH 效率低下与顶端神经发育终点联系起来。我们之前描述过一种结构异常,即异位,在胚胎期用丙硫氧嘧啶(PTU)处理的大鼠大脑中存在这种异常。然而,暴露的时间如何与这种出生缺陷有关尚不清楚。本研究旨在了解母体的各种时间处理如何与 TH 不足和后代的神经发育不良相关。怀孕的大鼠通过饮用水从妊娠第 6 天到出生后第 14 天(PN)接受 PTU(0 或 3ppm)处理。在 PN2,一部分幼崽被交叉寄养到相反处理的母鼠中,以创建 4 种条件:产前、产后、同时或根本不暴露于 PTU(对照)的幼崽。随着时间的推移,在母体和后代中对 PTU 和 TH 浓度进行了特征描述,以捕捉发育性外源性物质暴露的动态。检查了后代大脑中异位的存在和严重程度,并评估了成年同窝幼崽的记忆障碍。在产前暴露的情况下观察到了异位,在最长期暴露组的动物中其严重程度增加。这种畸形也是永久性的,但没有性别偏向。相比之下,行为障碍仅限于雄性,且仅在同时暴露于 PTU 妊娠和产后的动物中出现。这表明这两种表型都有独特的 TH 依赖性病因,并说明了甲状腺功能减退症发生的时间如何导致异常的大脑结构和功能。