Effects of Bisphenol A Exposure during Pregnancy and lactation on Hippocampal Function in Newborn Rats

Abstract

Bisphenol A (BPA) is widely used in industrial production. It is closely related to the growth and development of the nervous system, and can enter the fetal circulation through the placental barrier, and can be secreted through breast milk. The development of nervous system is very important in fetus and neonatal period. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of different doses of BPA on learning and memory function of nervous system in rats. Pregnant rats were randomly divided into three treatment groups (control group, 5 mg/kg/d, 50 mg/kg/d). All animals received BPA from the discovery of pregnancy to 21 days after birth. Results had shown that after high concentration BPA exposure, the increase of PS amplitude and f-EPSP slope in hippocampal CA1 area of male offspring was lower than that of control group. High concentration of BPA could inhibit Nestin, Cyclin D1, bcl-2 and Rac1 in male offspring rats and the expression of bax and RhoA was promoted by BPA. In summary, our study indicated that BPA exposure during pregnancy and lactation could impair the hippocampal function of male offspring by affecting the growth and apoptosis of hippocampal neurons, which might be due to the abnormal regulation of RhoA and Rac1.

Sex differences in the effects of prenatal bisphenol A exposure on autism-related genes and their relationships with the hippocampus functions

“…Although the role of Eif3h in ASD is not clearly understood, a recent study has shown that Eif3h can directly interact with the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and collybistin (a neuron-specific Rho-GEF) to downregulate the mTORC1 signaling cascade which is highly implicated in ASD 92 . Similar to our study, Wang et al have investigated the effects of BPA exposure during pregnancy and lactation by treating the dams with 5 mg/kg maternal BW/day, 50 mg/kg maternal BW/day, or vehicle control from the discovery of pregnancy to 21 days after birth 93 . They found that the high concentration of BPA could promote the apoptosis of CA1 hippocampal neurons of male offspring rats, but had little effect on female offspring, suggesting that the sex difference in the BPA effects on hippocampal viability is reproducible at least at the high concentrations.…”

Prenatal bisphenol A exposure impairs the aversive and spatial memory reduces the level of NMDA receptor subunits in the hippocampus of male Sprague Dawley rats

“…In the NMDA receptor, these subunits consist of a glycine-binding site which contributes to Ca 2+ permeability into the postsynaptic terminal [15]. The involvement of BPA in modulating these subunits may influence the threshold of LTP thereby impairing the cellular basis in learning and memory retention of an individual [30][31][32][33].…”

Bisphenol A (BPA) Affects the Enteric Nervous System in the Porcine Stomach

“…Moreover, BPA causes negative changes in higher nervous functions, including learning, memory and behavior [ 14 ]. Such changes were even observed in offspring whose mothers were subjected to one dose of BPA in perinatal period [ 15 ]. Some previous studies have reported that BPA administration raises the risk of occurrence of neurodegenerative diseases, in particular Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases [ 16 , 17 ].…”