[The effects of prenatal triphenyltin exposure on learning and development in the rat]

The toxicity of prenatal triphenyltin (TPT) exposure was studied in THA rats. Doses of 0 (control), 4 or 8 mg/kg/day of TPT were administered to pregnant rats from day 6 to day 20 of gestation by gastric intubation. In dams, the body weight of the 8 mg/kg group was significantly lower than that of control group, and 2 of 4 rats died on the expected day of delivery. In offspring, little effect of TPT on body weight, pinna detachment, incisor eruption, eye opening, surface righting, cliff avoidance, pivoting and negative geotaxis was found in either the 4 mg/kg or 8 mg/kg groups. In the Sidman avoidance test, the avoidance rate of the TPT groups was lower than that of the control group, and significant differences were found in the female groups. In a reversed test on the water E-maze test, the swimming time to the goal and the number of errors were increased in the TPT groups. These results suggest that prenatal TPT administration disrupts the learning acquisition of rats.