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Updated: Jun 17, 2026
Assessment of Perigenital Sensitivity and Prostatic Mast Cell Activation in a Mouse Model of Neonatal Maternal Separation
Published on: August 13, 2015
Perinatal nicotine exposure delays genital development in mice
Joseph Gyekis1, Kate Anthony, Jennifer E Foreman
1Center for Developmental and Health Genetics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
Introduction:
Smoking has well-recognized endocrine disrupting effects in humans that have been linked specifically to nicotine in animal models. Nicotine's perinatal effects on genital development in mice, which is interpreted as a measure of endocrine disrupting activity, were evaluated in this report.
Methods:
Pregnant C57B/6J dams were administered 50 microg/ml nicotine in drinking water from gestational day 9 until pups were weaned. Their pups' anogenital distances and weights were measured at birth and at weaning. A subset of the pups was weighed again in adulthood.
Results:
Female and male mice had significantly reduced anogenital distance at birth; however, by 34 days of age, differences in anogenital distance were no longer apparent, while body weight, which had been equal at birth and weaning, was significantly reduced in mice exposed to perinatal nicotine.
Discussion:
Perinatal nicotine exposure significantly delayed genital development and altered adolescent body weight in this model.
