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Prenatal exposure to an environmentally relevant mixture of Canadian Arctic contaminants decreases male reproductive function in an aging rat model

Part of: A Canadian perspective on DOHaD

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2018

C. Maurice ,
M. Kaczmarczyk ,
N. Côté ,
Y. Tremblay ,
S. Kimmins  and
J. L. Bailey
C. Maurice
Affiliation:
Centre de Recherche en Reproduction, Développement et Santé Intergénérationnelle, Département des Sciences Animales, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada
M. Kaczmarczyk
Affiliation:
Centre de Recherche en Reproduction, Développement et Santé Intergénérationnelle, Centre de recherché du CHUQ, Unité d’ontogénie-reproduction, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada
N. Côté
Affiliation:
Centre de Recherche en Reproduction, Développement et Santé Intergénérationnelle, Département des Sciences Animales, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada
Y. Tremblay
Affiliation:
Centre de Recherche en Reproduction, Développement et Santé Intergénérationnelle, Centre de recherché du CHUQ, Unité d’ontogénie-reproduction, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada
S. Kimmins
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Sciences, McGill University, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Quebec, H9X 3V9 Canada Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada
J. L. Bailey*
Affiliation:
Centre de Recherche en Reproduction, Développement et Santé Intergénérationnelle, Département des Sciences Animales, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada
*
*Address for correspondence: J. L. Bailey, Ph.D., Centre de Recherche en Reproduction, Développement et Santé Intergénérationnelle, Département des Sciences Animales, Faculté des Sciences de l’Agriculture et de l’Alimentation, Pavillon Paul Comtois, 2425 rue de l’Agriculture, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada G1V 0A6. E-mail: janice.bailey@fsaa.ulaval.ca
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Abstract

Elevated levels of organochlorines (OC) have been reported in Inuit populations in the Arctic. We hypothesized that prenatal exposure to a Canadian Arctic OC mixture adversely affects male reproductive function and health with age. Sprague–Dawley female rats (F0) were gavaged with an environmentally relevant concentration of an Arctic OC mixture or corn oil (Control) during mating with untreated males until parturition (F1 litters). After postnatal day (PND) 90, the weights of the OC F1 males differed dramatically relative to Controls (P<0.05; n=10) and they exhibited respiratory distress. Except for possible thinning of the alveolar barrier, histological observation of the lungs revealed no apparent pathology to explain the respiratory distress. At PND 365, OC F1 males had reduced relative reproductive organ weights and lower sperm quality than Controls (P<0.05). At PND 90, OC F1 males were subfertile (P<0.05), but were infertile at PND 365. In conclusion, environmentally relevant prenatal OC exposure reduced reproductive function and health in aging male rats, providing new insight into the effects of early-life exposures to these contaminants.

Keywords

contaminantfertilitylungmaleprenatal exposure
Type
Original Article
Information
Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease , Volume 9 , Issue 5 , October 2018 , pp. 511 - 518
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press and the International Society for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease 2018 

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