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Neonatal diethylstilbestrol alters blood pressure and CNS drinking response in SHR and WKY rats
C A Lamartiniere1, A T Pearson, R W Rockhold
1Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Alabama, Birmingham 35294.
Insights
Neonatal diethylstilbestrol exposure delayed hypertension in male Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats (SHR) but altered puberty and drinking responses in females of both SHR and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) strains.
Area of Science:
- Endocrinology
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Biology
Background:
- Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats (SHR) exhibit higher blood pressure than Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats.
- Diethylstilbestrol (DES) is a synthetic estrogen with known developmental effects.
- Understanding the long-term impact of neonatal endocrine disruptors is crucial for public health.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of neonatal diethylstilbestrol (DES) exposure on blood pressure, body weight, puberty, and neuroendocrine responses in male and female SHR and WKY rats.
- To determine if early-life exposure to DES influences the development of hypertension and adult physiological responses.
Main Methods:
- Neonatal Sprague Dawley rats (SHR and WKY) were administered diethylstilbestrol (DES) or propylene glycol (control).
- Blood pressure, body weight, and pubertal development were monitored.
- Adult rats received central estrogen administration to assess angiotensin II-induced drinking responses.
Main Results:
- Neonatal DES treatment delayed hypertension onset in male SHR but did not affect blood pressure in other groups.
- DES exposure adversely affected body weight in young male rats but led to increased body weight in adult females.
- Precocious puberty was observed in female rats exposed to DES neonatally. Adult female SHR and WKY rats with neonatal DES exposure showed attenuated angiotensin II-induced drinking responses, with a more pronounced effect in WKY rats, suggesting altered central neuroendocrine control.
Conclusions:
- Neonatal diethylstilbestrol exposure has differential effects on hypertension development in male SHR.
- DES exposure disrupts normal pubertal development and alters adult neuroendocrine-mediated drinking behavior in female rats.
- These findings highlight the potential for endocrine-disrupting chemicals to cause long-lasting neuroendocrine and physiological changes.
Abstract:
Neonatal SHR and WKY rats were treated with diethylstilbestrol or propylene glycol (controls). Control SHR had higher blood pressures than WKY rats. Neonatal diethylstilbestrol treatment delayed the onset and full expression of hypertension in the male SHR but had no effect on blood pressure in the other animals. Neonatal diethylstilbestrol treatment had an adverse effect on body weights of male SHR and WKY rats through 98 days of age (not statistically decreased thereafter). Adult female SHR and WKY rats treated neonatally with diethylstilbestrol had body weights significantly greater than the control females. Neonatal treatment with diethylstilbestrol resulted in precocious puberty in female SHR and WKY rats. Control female SHR and WKY rats and female SHR treated neonatally with diethylstilbestrol had attenuated angiotensin - II induced drinking response from the central administration of estrogen in adulthood. The angiotensin II - induced drinking response was not significantly attenuated by central estrogen in adult WKY females exposed neonatally to diethylstilbestrol. Neonatal diethylstilbestrol treatment of WKY female rats appears to have altered neuroendocrine secretions that control CNS drinking behavior.