Department of Animal Biology, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Department of Animal Science, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
J Appl Toxicol. 2020 Feb;40(2):214-223. doi: 10.1002/jat.3897. Epub 2019 Aug 19.
Arsenic is a metalloid widely found in the environment in organic and inorganic forms. Exposure to inorganic arsenic forms via drinking water has been associated with an increased incidence of negative health effects, including reproductive disorders and dysfunction of the endocrine system. However, the impact of arsenic exposure on female reproductive development is still unclear. Therefore, in the present study, we evaluated the effects of prenatal exposure to arsenic on the initial sexual development and puberty onset, and in the morphology of the female reproductive organs, estrous cycle regularity and fertility parameters during adulthood. To do that, pregnant female Wistar rats were exposed to 10 mg/L sodium arsenite via drinking water from gestational day (GD) 1 until GD 21 and the female offspring was evaluated in different postnatal days. Our results showed that prenatal arsenic exposure induced a decrease of litter weight and morphological masculinization in females at postnatal day 1. Moreover, these females had a delay in the age of puberty onset and alteration in estrous cycle number and length. During adulthood, females from the sodium arsenite group showed an increase in endometrium, myometrium and perimetrium areas, and an imbalance in uterine antioxidant enzyme activity. These animals also presented an increase in post-implantation loss and reabsorption number, leading to reduced viable fetus number. In conclusion, prenatal arsenic exposure in rats was able to promote female masculinization, alter sexual development and impair reproductive performance.
砷是一种广泛存在于环境中的类金属，以有机和无机形式存在。通过饮用水摄入无机砷与负面健康影响的发生率增加有关，包括生殖障碍和内分泌系统功能障碍。然而，砷暴露对女性生殖发育的影响仍不清楚。因此，在本研究中，我们评估了产前暴露于砷对女性初始性发育和青春期启动以及成年后雌性生殖器官形态、发情周期规律性和生育参数的影响。为此，我们从妊娠第 1 天到第 21 天通过饮用水让怀孕的 Wistar 大鼠接触 10mg/L 的亚砷酸钠，并在不同的产后天数评估雌性后代。我们的结果表明，产前砷暴露会导致产后第 1 天的幼仔体重减轻和雌性的形态性男性化。此外，这些雌性动物的青春期启动年龄延迟，发情周期的数量和长度发生改变。在成年期，亚砷酸钠组的雌性动物子宫内膜、子宫肌层和子宫周围组织面积增加，子宫抗氧化酶活性失衡。这些动物还表现出着床后损失和吸收数量增加，导致活胎数量减少。总之，大鼠产前砷暴露能够促进雌性雄性化、改变性发育并损害生殖性能。
