Maternal Toxicity and Offspring Neurobehavioral Effects in Wistar Rats Induced by Exposure to Methylmercury During Pregnancy / 环境与健康杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the maternal toxicity and offspring's neurobehavioral effects in Wistar rats induced by exposure to methylmercury during pregnancy. Methods Methylmercury were continuously orally perfued with different doses of 0.00, 0.01, 0.05 and 2.00 mg/(kg?d) to 52 pregnant Wistar rats during the 6th～9th day after conception. The toxicity to maternal rats was observed and general teratology test were carried out. The parameters of physical and neurobehavioral develpment at early stage of 205 offspring were measured and the operant behavior test of 32 offspring was carried out at the age of 10 weeks. The brain's morphology and the levels of monamine neurotransmitter were tested in 24 maternal rats after 5 weeks of the delivery and 24 offspring in 10 weeks old. Double blind randomized design was used in whole experiment. Results No maternal toxicity and offspring teratogenicity were observed. The increase of body weight and tail development of embryos in 3 exposure groups were slower than those of control group (P