Morphological and functional disorders of the immature rat uterus after postnatal exposure to benz[a]anthracene and benzo[k]fluoranthene

Vladimír Kummer; Jarmila Mašková; Ján Matiašovic; Martin Faldyna

doi:10.1016/j.etap.2008.11.001

Morphological and functional disorders of the immature rat uterus after postnatal exposure to benz[a]anthracene and benzo[k]fluoranthene

Environ Toxicol Pharmacol. 2009 Mar;27(2):253-8. doi: 10.1016/j.etap.2008.11.001. Epub 2008 Nov 13.

Authors

Vladimír Kummer¹, Jarmila Mašková, Ján Matiašovic, Martin Faldyna

Affiliation

¹ Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic.

PMID: 21783948
DOI: 10.1016/j.etap.2008.11.001

Abstract

We investigated the effects of postnatal exposure to benz[a]anthracene (B[a]A) and benzo[k]fluoranthene (B[k]F) on the development of the rat uterus. Neonates were injected on each postnatal days 1-14 with B[a]A (0.1, 1.0 or 10.0mg/kg), B[k]F (0.1, 1.0 or 5.0mg/kg), ethynylestradiol (EE; 1.0μg/kg) or a vehicle. The rats were killed on day 23. All doses of B[a]A and B[k]F induced a reduction of the uterine weight, a reduction of the estrogen receptor α expression in the luminal epithelium, glandular epithelium and stromal cells. Moreover, the uterotrophic response to EE (3-day administration of 1.0μg/kg on postnatal days 20-22) in rats exposed to B[a]A, B[k]F and EE was lower than in controls. The study showed that postnatal exposure to B[a]A and B[k]F resultes in morphological and functional disorders of the immature rat uterus.