Altered cardiovascular reactivity and osmoregulation during hyperosmotic stress in adult rats developmentally exposed to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs).

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and the structurally similar chemicals polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) disrupt the function of multiple endocrine systems. PCBs and PBDEs disrupt the secretion of vasopressin (VP) from the hypothalamus during osmotic activation. Since the peripheral and central vasopressinergic axes are critical for osmotic and cardiovascular regulation, we examined whether perinatal PBDE exposure could impact these functions during physiological activation. Rats were perinatally dosed with a commercial PBDE mixture, DE-71. Dams were given 0 (corn oil control), 1.7 (low dose) or 30.6 mg/kg/day (high dose) in corn oil from gestational day (GD) 6 through postnatal day (PND) 21 by oral gavage. In the male offspring exposed to high dose PBDE plasma thyroxine and triiodothyronine levels were reduced at PND 21 and recovered to control levels by PND 60 when thyroid stimulating hormone levels were elevated. At 14-18 months of age, cardiovascular responses were measured in four groups of rats: Normal (Oil, normosmotic condition), Hyper (Oil, hyperosmotic stress), Hyper PBDE low (1.7 mg/kg/day DE-71 perinatally, hyperosmotic stress), and Hyper PBDE high (30.6 mg/kg/day DE-71 perinatally, hyperosmotic stress). Systolic blood pressure (BP), diastolic BP, and heart rate (HR) were determined using tail cuff sphygmomanometry and normalized to pretreatment values (baseline) measured under basal conditions. Hyperosmotic treatment yielded significant changes in systolic BP in PBDE exposed rats only. Hyper PBDE low and high dose rats showed 36.1 and 64.7% greater systolic BP responses at 3h post hyperosmotic injection relative to pretreatment baseline, respectively. No treatment effects were measured for diastolic BP and HR. Hyper and Hyper PBDE rats showed increased mean plasma osmolality values by 45 min after injection relative to normosmotic controls. In contrast to Hyper rats, Hyper PBDE (high) rats showed a further increase in mean plasma osmolality at 3h (358.3±12.4mOsm/L) relative to 45 min post hyperosmotic injection (325.1±11.4mOsm/L). Impaired osmoregulation in PBDE-treated animals could not be attributed to decreased levels of plasma vasopressin. Our findings suggest that developmental exposure to PBDEs may disrupt cardiovascular reactivity and osmoregulatory responses to physiological activation in late adulthood.

Developmental exposure to a commercial PBDE mixture, DE-71: neurobehavioral, hormonal, and reproductive effects.

Developmental effects of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) have been suspected due to their structural similarities to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). This study evaluated neurobehavioral, hormonal, and reproductive effects in rat offspring perinatally exposed to a widely used pentabrominated commercial mixture, DE-71. Pregnant Long-Evans rats were exposed to 0, 1.7, 10.2, or 30.6 mg/kg/day DE-71 in corn oil by oral gavage from gestational day 6 to weaning. DE-71 did not alter maternal or male offspring body weights. However, female offspring were smaller compared with controls from postnatal days (PNDs) 35-60. Although several neurobehavioral endpoints were assessed, the only statistically significant behavioral finding was a dose-by-age interaction in the number of rears in an open-field test. Developmental exposure to DE-71 caused severe hypothyroxinemia in the dams and early postnatal offspring. DE-71 also affected anogenital distance and preputial separation in male pups. Body weight gain over time, reproductive tissue weights, and serum testosterone concentrations at PND 60 were not altered. Mammary gland development of female offspring was significantly affected at PND 21. Congener-specific analysis of PBDEs indicated accumulation in all tissues examined. Highest PBDE concentrations were found in fat including milk, whereas blood had the lowest concentrations on a wet weight basis. PBDE concentrations were comparable among various brain regions. Thus, perinatal exposure to DE-71 leads to accumulation of PBDE congeners in various tissues crossing blood-placenta and blood-brain barriers, causing subtle changes in some parameters of neurobehavior and dramatic changes in circulating thyroid hormone levels, as well as changes in both male and female reproductive endpoints. Some of these effects are similar to those seen with PCBs, and the persistence of these changes requires further investigation.

In vitro effects of environmentally relevant polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) congeners on calcium buffering mechanisms in rat brain.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are widely used as additive flame-retardants and have been detected in human blood, adipose tissue, and breast milk. Developmental and long-term exposures to these chemicals may pose a human health risk, especially to children. We have previously demonstrated that polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which are structurally similar to PBDEs and cause neurotoxicity, perturb intracellular signaling events including calcium homeostasis and protein kinase C translocation, which are critical for neuronal function and development of the nervous system. The objective of the present study was to test whether environmentally relevant PBDE congeners 47 and 99 are also capable of disrupting Ca(2+) homeostasis. Calcium buffering was determined by measuring (45)Ca(2+)-uptake by microsomes and mitochondria, isolated from adult male rat brain (frontal cortex, cerebellum, hippocampus, and hypothalamus). Results show that PBDEs 47 and 99 inhibit both microsomal and mitochondrial (45)Ca(2+)-uptake in a concentration-dependent manner. The effect of these congeners on (45)Ca(2+)-uptake is similar in all four brain regions though the hypothalamus seems to be slightly more sensitive. Among the two preparations, the congeners inhibited (45)Ca(2+)-uptake in mitochondria to a greater extent than in microsomes. These results indicate that PBDE 47 and PBDE 99 congeners perturb calcium signaling in rat brain in a manner similar to PCB congeners, suggesting a common mode of action of these persistent organic pollutants.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers and ortho-substituted polychlorinated biphenyls as neuroendocrine disruptors of vasopressin release: effects during physiological activation in vitro and structure-activity relationships.

The neuropeptide, vasopressin (VP) is synthesized in magnocellular neuroendocrine cells (MNCs) located within the supraoptic (SON) and paraventricular (PVN) nuclei of the mammalian hypothalamus. VP has multiple functions including maintenance of body fluid homeostasis, cardiovascular control, learning and memory, and nervous system development. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), used as additive flame retardants, have been shown to interfere with hormone metabolism and function. Previously, we demonstrated that the technical polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) mixture, Aroclor 1254, inhibits somatodendritic VP release from the SON of osmotically stimulated rats. The objectives of the current study were to test whether PBDEs affect central VP release in a similar manner and to determine the potency of several PCB and PBDE congeners in order to identify a common mode of action for these persistent chemicals. The current work shows that the commercial PBDE mixture (DE-71) significantly decreased somatodendritic VP release from rat SON punches in a strain-independent manner. In addition, the specific congeners PBDE 47 and PCB 47 (15 and 5 microM) were also neuroactive in this system. To explore structure/activity relationships, we compared the effects of PBDE 77 with PCB 77. PBDE 77, but not PCB 77 significantly reduced VP release. These results show that like PCBs, PBDEs perturb signaling mechanisms responsible for hormone release, and that environmentally relevant PBDE congeners are more neuroactive than the commercial mixtures with noncoplanarity of these compounds playing a role in promoting neuroactivity.

Dietary exposure to aroclor 1254 alters central and peripheral vasopressin release in response to dehydration in the rat.

Central vasopressin (VP) release from magnocellular neuroendocrine cells (MNCs) in the supraoptic nucleus (SON) occurs from their somata and dendrites within the SON several hours after acute dehydration, and is an important autoregulatory mechanism influencing the systemic release of VP from MNC terminals in the posterior pituitary. To begin to explore the impact of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) on brain mechanisms of body fluid regulation, both central and systemic VP release in response to acute dehydration were assessed in adult male rats fed the commercial PCB mixture Aroclor 1254 (30 mg/kg/day) for 15 days. Water intake and body weight were recorded daily, and on day 15 rats were dehydrated by intraperitoneal injection of 3.5 M saline (controls received physiological saline) and sacrificed 4-6 h later. Intranuclear VP release was measured in SON tissue punches in vitro, and systemic VP release was measured in the same rats. SON prepared from dehydrated PCB-naive rats released significantly more VP than did SON from control rats (4.9 +/- 0.8 vs. 2.7 +/- 0.4 pg/ml/microg). In contrast, while Aroclor 1254 exposure had no effect on baseline water intake, weight gain, or plasma osmolality responses to dehydration in PCB-fed rats, the SON failed to respond with increased VP release during dehydration. Consistent with previous studies showing an inhibitory effect of central VP on plasma VP output, dehydrated PCB-fed rats had an exaggerated 863% increase in plasma VP over basal levels, compared to a 241% increase in PCB-naive rats, suggesting that the MNC system is subtly disrupted.