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Updated: Aug 18, 2025
Neurodevelopmental Reflex Testing in Neonatal Rat Pups
Published on: April 24, 2017
Artificial Dim Light at Night during Pregnancy Can Affect Hormonal and Metabolic Rhythms in Rat Offspring
Zuzana Dzirbíková1, Katarína Stebelová1, Katarína Kováčová1
1Department of Animal Physiology and Ethology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Ilkovičova 6, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia.
Insights
Artificial light at night (ALAN) during pregnancy disrupts hormone rhythms in rat pups. This exposure can interfere with normal endocrine development and metabolism in offspring.
Area of Science:
- Endocrinology
- Environmental Health
- Developmental Biology
Background:
- Artificial light at night (ALAN) is an emerging environmental risk factor.
- ALAN can disrupt circadian rhythms, impacting endocrine and metabolic systems.
- The effects of prenatal ALAN exposure on offspring development require further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of maternal exposure to artificial light at night (ALAN) during pregnancy on hormonal and biochemical parameters in rat pups.
- To assess the developmental effects of ALAN on circadian rhythms of hormones and metabolites in offspring.
Main Methods:
- Controlled study exposing pregnant rats to dim ALAN (<2 lx) or standard light-dark cycles.
- Measurement of plasma melatonin, corticosterone, thyroid hormones, vasopressin, glucose, and cholesterol in offspring at postnatal days P3, P10, and P20.
- Analysis of daily rhythms and specific hormonal/metabolic parameters.
Main Results:
- ALAN exposure disrupted melatonin rhythms in pups at P3 and P10.
- Reduced corticosterone mesor and suppressed vasopressin levels were observed in ALAN-exposed pups at P20.
- Daily rhythms of glucose and cholesterol were absent in ALAN pups at P3.
- ALAN exposure impaired the development of hormonal and metabolic daily rhythms.
Conclusions:
- Prenatal exposure to artificial light at night acts as an endocrine disruptor.
- ALAN during pregnancy interferes with the normal development of circadian rhythms in hormones and metabolites in offspring.
- These disruptions suggest potential long-term health implications for progeny exposed to ALAN in utero.
Abstract:
Artificial light at night (ALAN) is considered an environmental risk factor that can interfere with the circadian control of the endocrine system and metabolism. We studied the impact of ALAN during pregnancy on the hormonal and biochemical parameters in rat pups at postnatal (P) days P3, P10, and P20. Control dams (CTRL) were kept in a standard light-dark regime, and ALAN dams were exposed to dim ALAN (<2 lx) during the whole pregnancy. A plasma melatonin rhythm was found in all CTRL groups, whereas in ALAN pups, melatonin was not rhythmic at P3, and its amplitude was lowered at P10; no differences were found between groups at P20. Plasma corticosterone was rhythmic at P20 in both groups, with decreased mesor in ALAN pups. Plasma thyroid hormones exhibited an inconsistent developmental pattern, and vasopressin levels were suppressed at the beginning of the dark phase at P20 in ALAN compared to CTRL. Glucose and cholesterol showed significant daily rhythms in CTRL but not in ALAN offspring at P3. Exposure to ALAN during pregnancy disturbed the development of daily rhythms in measured hormones and metabolites, suggesting that ALAN during pregnancy can act as an endocrine disruptor that can interfere with the normal development of the progeny.
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