Effects of exposure to bisphenol A during pregnancy and lactation on the testicular morphology and caspase-3 protein expression of ICR pups

作者：Xiaoli Liu, Xiaoyu Chen, ZHI-CHENG WANG, Tong Shen, HUNA ZHAO · 发表于：Biomedical Reports · 年份：2013 · DOI：10.3892/br.2013.79 · 被引用次数：26 · 研究领域：Effects and risks of endocrine disrupting chemicals、Genetically Modified Organisms Research、Carcinogens and Genotoxicity Assessment

Bisphenol A (BPA), a xenoestrogen and endocrine-disrupting chemical, is a cause for concern due to its being a potential human carcinogen. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of continued maternal exposure to BPA on the testicular structures and expression of caspase-3 protein in male ICR offspring during pregnancy and lactation and explore its possible mechanism. Pregnant ICR mice were divided into two control groups, which were either given or not given the solvent dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and three treatment groups, which were gavaged with water-soluble BPA dissolved in DMSO at three different concentrations from gestational day 0 to weaning on postnatal day (PND) 21. The number of mice pups and ratios of males to females were recorded. On PND 21, male offspring were sacrificed to measure their wet weights and testicular coefficients. Electron microscopy was used to observe testicular morphological changes, Hoechst 33258 staining to detect cell apoptosis and immunohistochemistry to measure caspase-3 expression. Although there was no significant difference between offspring of the control group and the treatment group in litter size and male-female ratio (P>0.05), the testicular viscera coefficient in the latter decreased (P<0.01). Specifically, compared with offspring of the control group, in addition to increased cell apoptosis, those of the treatment groups were found to have changes in mitochondrial and endoplasmic reticulum in their spermatogenous, Se...