Adult rats exposed to low-doses of di-n-butyl phthalate during gestation exhibit decreased grooming behavior

Hideo Hoshi1, Teruya Ohtsuka

  • 1Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of Texas at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA.

Developmental neurotoxicity of low-dose di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP) to rats was studied. Pregnant rats were orally given DBP at doses less than 1.0 mg/kg/day during gestation period. The body weight of all dams and their offspring as well as the offspring's motor function showed no significant adverse effect. At 21 weeks, behaviors of male rats were examined by placing into a test cage. The rats born from dams exposed to 10 microg DBP/kg/day exhibited a significant decrease of grooming. This indicates low-dose DBP adversely affects emotional stability in a novel environment.

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