Introduction:Acrylamide (ACR) consumption is increasing all over the world. There are some evidence on the literature about its neurotoxic effect on mature animals, but the effects of ACR on postnatal development have been less studied. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of ACR on development of cortical layer, white matter, and number of Purkinje cells of the cerebellum in rat newborns.Methods:This study was carried out on 20 female Wistar rats (average weight: 180 g, aged: two months). The rats were divided into four groups. Pregnant rats were orally fed with ACR 10 mg/kg and vitamin C 200 mg/kg. In this study, 6 infants of each group (weighting 32–35 g) were randomly selected at day 21 after birth and placed under deep anesthesia and transcardial perfusion. Their cerebellums were fixed and histopathological changes were evaluated with Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) staining and cresyl violet method. The volume of cerebellar cortical layers and number of Purkinje cells were investigated by Cavalieri’s principle and physical dissector methods. The obtained data were analyzed by 1-way ANOVA and LSD test using SPSS. P<0.05 considered as statistically significant.Results:The results showed that newborns of ACR-treated female rats have decreased cerebellar weight (P≤0.05) and lower than average number of Purkinje cells (P≤0.001). ACR also decreased the volume of granular and molecular layer and increased the volume of white matter. While the results showed decreased in white matter volume in vitamin C group (P≤0.001).Conclusion:ACR induces structural changes in the development of the cerebellar cortical layers in rat newborns, but these changes may be prevented by vitamin C as an antioxidant.

Acrylamide (ACR) is a substance chemical used in industrial and laboratory procedures. Acrylamide according to the method of cooking foods are increasingly used and its adverse effects on multiple organ systems have been described sporadically in the literature. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of prenatal (maternal) ACR consumption on the physical development and the changes of cerebellar volume in the rat embryo. Materials and Methods: Female pregnant Wistar rats were orally administered 10 mg/kg ACR and/or 200 mg/kg vitamin C (vit C) solution. Pregnant rats were sacrificed on the 15 th day of gestation and mother's weight was measured. After that, their fetuses were taken out and were evaluated for fetus number and weight, crown-rump length (CRL) and cerebellar development. A total of 100 sections were cut through the entire cerebellum. From these sections, approximately 10 equidistant sections were systematic uniformly random sampled with an initial random start and stained with hematoxylin-eosin for volume estimation. The cerebellar volume was estimated by micro-projection and cavaliers' method. Results: The results showed that ACR caused a significant reduction in mother's weight and volume of cerebellum as well as in the number of fetus. Histological and stereological examinations revealed that the cerebellar volume was decreased in ACR and ACR+vit C groups vs control animals. Conclusion: ACR exhibits a harmful effect on the development of the brain, which may be prevented by administration of vit C.

Background and Objective: It is conceivable that caffeine consumption would induce gonadal changes. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of embryonic caffeine exposure on rat testis and prostate. Materials and Methods: Female rats were divided into (n=7): A control, only received drinking water. B and C groups received caffeine low dose (26 mg/kg) and high dose (45 mg/kg) respectively via drinking water during pregnancy and lactation. Structural changes in testis and prostate were studied by using stereological methods at 21, 60 and120 days of postnatal development. Results: Our result showed decreases in body and testis weight of offspring of group C compared to other groups at all ages (P< 0.05). The Testis volume showed significant differences between the offspring of both experimental groups and control at days 21, 60 and 120 (P<0.05). There were significant differences in the number of sperm cells of offspring of experimental groups compared to the control group in different ages (P<0.05). The number of sertoli, spermatocyte and spermatid cells of offspring in group C showed a significant decrease compared with other groups at all days (P<0.01). The number of spermatogonia cells in group C offspring showed a significant decrease compared to the control group at different days (P<0.05). The mean Johnsen score decreased in offspring of group C compared to the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion:Results showed that maternal caffeine consumption altered the structure of testis and prostate gland and spermatogenesis of offspring in adulthood.