Objective: To investigate the effects of prenatal exposure to pentabromodiphenyl ether(BDE-99) on maternal serum thyroid hormone levels, as well as birth weight and anal-genital development in rat offspring.
Methods: Pregnant SD rats were randomly treated with BDE-99(0. 2, 2 and 20 mg/kg) or corn oil on gestational days 1-19. Maternal serum were collected from tail vein on the gestational day 11 and day 19, serum levels of TSH, TT4, FT4, TT3 and FT3 were measured. The weight of offspring was measured at postnatal day 3, 9, 15, 21 and 27, anorectal-genital spacing was measured at postnatal day 21.
Results: The levels of TT3 and FT3 in maternal serum of 2 mg/kg and 20 mg/kg groups were lower than those of control group at gestational day 11. At gestational day 19, TT4 levels in maternal serum were significantly lower than those in control group, and TSH levels of 20 mg/kg group were lower than those in control group. The body weight of female offspring in all dose groups was lower than that of control group on the postnatal day 27, and the anal-genital distance of male offspring in the 20 mg/kg dose group was significantly lower than that of the control group on the postnatal day 21.
Conclusion: Prenatal exposure to BDE-99 may disrupt the maternal thyroid hormone levels, and cause the offspring's weight loss and shortened anal-genital spacing.
Keywords: growth development; pentabromodiphenyl ether; thyroid hormone.