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[Study on effect of lead exposure to blood lead level and hearing in young offspring through gestation-rat]
Shengquan Zhao1, Yueming Ma, Linxian Ni
1Department of Otolaryngology, Children's Hospital of Kunming, Kunming, 560034, China.
Insights
Lead exposure during pregnancy increases fetal blood lead levels and can damage hearing in offspring. Even low-level exposure impacts the auditory system, affecting hearing nerve centers and pathways.
Area of Science:
- Toxicology
- Developmental Biology
- Neuroscience
Context:
- Lead exposure is a significant public health concern, particularly for pregnant women and developing fetuses.
- Understanding the specific impacts of prenatal lead exposure on offspring health is crucial for prevention and intervention strategies.
Purpose:
- To investigate the relationship between maternal lead exposure during gestation and its effects on blood lead levels and auditory function in neonatal rats.
- To assess the impact of varying lead acetate concentrations on parent and offspring rats' auditory pathways.
Summary:
- Maternal lead exposure during gestation resulted in elevated blood lead levels in neonatal rats, correlating positively with parent rat levels.
- Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) tests revealed significant differences in hearing thresholds in offspring exposed to lead in utero, indicating damage to the auditory nerve and pathways.
- Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emissions (DPOAE) tests showed normal cochlear feedback, suggesting the primary impact of lead exposure is on neural auditory pathways rather than the cochlea itself.
Impact:
- Prenatal lead exposure can lead to subtle but significant auditory deficits in offspring, potentially affecting developmental outcomes.
- Findings highlight the vulnerability of the fetal auditory system to lead toxicity, emphasizing the need for strict lead exposure limits during pregnancy.
- This study provides critical data for understanding the long-term consequences of environmental lead exposure on neurodevelopment and sensory function.
Objective:
To study the effect of lead exposure to the blood lead level and the hearing in young offspring through gestation-rat.
Method:
Experiments were carried out on 42 Wistar rats, half female and half male, randomly divided into five couple groups (A, B, C, D, E). The group A, as a normal control group, was fed with a standard diet. The group B, C, D and E were fed with a standard diet, additionally with 0.03%, 0.090%, 0.27% and 0.81% lead acetate added respectively, and then fed with standard diet after birth. DPOAE, ABR and blood lead measurement were conducted on the parents rats and the neonatal offspring rats at first week and at the third week respectively.
Result:
The blood lead level of neonatal rat reported positively related with that of the parent rats (r = 0. 5817). DPOAE test result: Both parent rats and neonatal rats presented a normal cochlea feedback curve. ABR test result: The period of the group D showed a significant difference from that of the normal control group A. Reaction threshold (dBpeSPL) of the neonatal rat group cl (at the first week) and group c3 (at the third week) showed a notable difference from that of the normal control group al and a3 (c >a).
Conclusion:
The blood lead level of a fetus rat is related with the exposure degree to lead during the pregnant period of mother rat. Low level lead exposure inside uterus during pregnant period will result easily in damage on the hearing nerve center segment and hearing conduct of a fetus rat for they are very sensitive.
