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Updated: Mar 21, 2026

Long-term Behavioral and Reproductive Consequences of Embryonic Exposure to Low-dose Toxicants
Published on: March 6, 2018
Mono-2-ethylhexyl phthalate disrupts neurulation and modifies the embryonic redox environment and gene expression
Karilyn E Sant1, Dana C Dolinoy2, Joseph L Jilek1
1Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States.
Abstract:
Mono-2-ethylhexl phthalate (MEHP) is the primary metabolite of di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), a ubiquitous contaminant in plastics. This study sought to determine how structural defects caused by MEHP in mouse whole embryo culture were related to temporal and spatial patterns of redox state and gene expression. MEHP reduced morphology scores along with increased incidence of neural tube defects. Glutathione (GSH) and cysteine (Cys) concentrations fluctuated spatially and temporally in embryo (EMB) and visceral yolk sac (VYS) across the 24h culture. Redox potentials (Eh) for GSSG/GSH were increased by MEHP in EMB (12h) but not in VYS. CySS/CyS Eh in EMB and VYS were significantly increased at 3h and 24h, respectively. Gene expression at 6h showed that MEHP induced selective alterations in EMB and VYS for oxidative phosphorylation and energy metabolism pathways. Overall, MEHP affects neurulation, alters Eh, and spatially alters the expression of metabolic genes in the early organogenesis-stage mouse conceptus.
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