ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the effects of early pregnancy exposure to hazardous indoor air pollutants due to interior decoration and hyperthermia on neurobehavioral development of postnatal rats.Methods Twenty-two pregnant rats were randomly divided into 4 groups.Each group was placed in pollutants cabinet,hyperthermia cabinet,hyperthermia+pollutants cabinet and empty cabinet respectively for 2 h per day for 10 d since their pregnancy.The weight and neurobehavioral development of postnatal rats were observed at different time points.The number of apoptotic and dead neurons in the CA1 region of hippocampus was observed in postnatal rats.The expression of the NR1 subunit of NMDA receptor of hippocampal neurons was also detected.Results Indoor pollutants and hyperthermia could accelerate apoptosis and necrosis of hippocampal neurons in CA1 region of postnatal rats and increase the expression of NR1 subunit of NMDA receptor.Furthermore,hazardous indoor pollutants and hyperthermia could induce remarkable influences on postnatal rats’ neurobehavioral development,learning and memory capability.Indoor pollutants combined with hyperthermia aggravated these effects.Conclusion Exposure to environment of the hazardous indoor pollutants especially combined with hyperthermia during early pregnancy has remarkable influences on the nervous system of postnatal rats.