Prenatal exposure to bisphenol A disrupts adrenal steroidogenesis in adult mouse offspring
Samantha Medwid1, Haiyan Guan1, Kaiping Yang1
1Children's Health Research Institute & Lawson Health Research Institute, Departments of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and Physiology & Pharmacology, Western University, 800 Commissioners Rd. E., London, Ontario N6C 2V5, Canada.
Abstract:
The present study sought to determine if prenatal exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) alters adrenal steroidogenesis in adult offspring. Pregnant mice were exposed to BPA (25mg BPA/kg food pellet) via diet from day 7 to the end of pregnancy. At eight weeks of age, offsprings were sacrificed, blood samples and adrenal glands were collected for hormone assays and western blot analysis, respectively. We found that: (1) BPA increased adrenal gland weight in both males and females; (2) although BPA elevated plasma corticosterone levels in both sexes, it stimulated the expression of StAR and cyp11A1, the two rate-limiting factors in the steroidogenic pathway, only in female adrenal glands; and interestingly (3) BPA did not alter plasma ACTH levels or adrenal expression of the key steroidogenic transcription factor SF-1 in either sex. Taken together, the present study provides novel insights into the long-term consequences of developmental BPA exposure on adrenal steroidogenesis.
