Teratogenicity and immunotoxicity of 3,3',4,4',5-pentachlorobiphenyl in C57BL/6 mice.

Administration of 3,3',4,4',5-pentachlorobiphenyl (pentaCB) to female C57BL/6 mice at doses from 130.5 to 522 micrograms/kg body weight resulted in the dose-dependent formation of fetal cleft palate and hydronephrosis. The estimated relative potency of 3,3',4,4',5-pentaCB compared to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) was in the range of < 0.07-0.04. The immunotoxicity of 3,3',4,4',5-pentaCB and two structurally-related congeners, 3,3',4,4'-tetraCB and 3,3',4,4',5,5'-hexaCB, was investigated in male C57BL/6 mice by determining their suppression of the splenic plaque-forming cell response to sheep red blood cells. The potencies of these compounds relative to TCDD were determined from the ratios of their corresponding ED50 values and were 0.77-0.55 (3,3',4,4',5-pentaCB), 1.1-0.29 (3,3',4,4',5,5'-hexaCB) and 0.14-0.03 (3,3',4,4'-tetraCB). These results demonstrate that the immunosuppressive activities of the PCB congeners relative to TCDD were much higher than observed for many other TCDD-like responses in mice and other laboratory animals.