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Updated: Jul 9, 2025

Long-term Behavioral and Reproductive Consequences of Embryonic Exposure to Low-dose Toxicants
Published on: March 6, 2018
Perinatal exposure to bisphenol A or S: Effects on anxiety-related behaviors and serotonergic system
Brigitta Bonaldo1, Antonino Casile2, Marialaura Teresa Ostuni3
1Neuroscience Institute Cavalieri Ottolenghi (NICO), Regione Gonzole, 10-10043 Orbassano, Turin, Italy; Department of Neuroscience "Rita Levi-Montalcini", University of Turin, Via Cherasco 15, 10126, Turin, Italy; Department of Health Sciences and Research Center on Autoimmune and Allergic Diseases (CAAD), University of Piemonte Orientale (UPO), Novara, Italy.
Abstract:
Bisphenols, synthetic organic compounds used in the production of plastics, are an extremely abundant class of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, i.e., exogenous chemicals or mixtures of chemicals that can interfere with any aspect of hormone action. Exposure to BPs can lead to a wide range of effects, and it is especially dangerous if it occurs during specific critical periods of life. Focusing on the perinatal exposure to BPA or its largely used substitute BPS, we investigated the effects on anxiety-related behaviors and the serotonergic system, which is highly involved in controlling these behaviors, in adult mice. We treated C57BL/6J dams orally with a dose of 4 μg/kg body weight/day (i.e., EFSA TDI) of BPA or BPS dissolved in corn oil or with vehicle alone, at the onset of mating and continued treatment until the offspring were weaned. Adult offspring of both sexes performed the elevated plus maze and the open field tests. Then, we analyzed the serotonergic system in dorsal (DR) and median (MnR) raphe nuclei by immunohistochemical techniques. Behavioral tests highlighted alterations in BPA- and BPS-treated mice, suggesting different effects of the bisphenols exposure on anxiety-related behavior in males (anxiolytic) and females (anxiogenic). The analysis of the serotonergic system highlighted a sex dimorphism in the DR only, with control females showing higher values of serotonin immunoreactivity (5-HT-ir) than control males. BPA-treated males displayed a significant increase of 5-HT-ir in all analyzed nuclei, whereas BPS-treated males showed an increase in ventral DR only. In females, both bisphenols-treated groups showed a significant increase of 5-HT-ir in dorsal DR compared to the controls, and BPA-treated females also showed a significant increase in MnR.These results provide evidence that exposure during the early phases of life to BPA or BPS alters anxiety and the raphe serotonergic neurons in a sex-dependent manner.
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