ABSTRACT
To verify the relationship between oxidative stress and DNA methylation in the young brain, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) was administered by gavage to male young rats at doses of 0, 0.006, 0.06, 0.6, 6, and 60 mg/kg/day for a period of 4 weeks. The most conspicuous decrease in the lipid peroxidation level was observed in the 0.06 mg/kg/day group compared with controls. Microarray analysis of brain samples from the control and 0.06 mg/kg/day groups revealed that the expression of 40 genes was changed in the hypothalamus, whereas mRNA expression was unaltered in the hippocampus. This result suggests that the hypothalamus is more susceptible to low-level oxidative stress at the young period. We further examined this possibility by selecting 10 genes from the hypothalamic microarray data. RT-PCR analysis revealed that expression of 7 of these 10 genes was significantly changed in the 0.06 mg/kg/day group, compared with controls. Furthermore, RT-PCR analysis showed that mRNA expressions of Dnmt1, Hsp90 and Hsp70 in the hypothalamus were significantly lower in the 0.06 mg/kg/day group than in controls. Methylated DNA-PCR analysis in the hypothalamus revealed that 6 CpG islands were significantly hypomethylated compared with controls. Thus, we speculate that the DNA methylation machinery malfunctions under low levels of oxidative stress, thereby leading to incomplete methylation of specific gene regions. Our data indicate that a low level of oxidative stress appears to correlate positively with transcriptional down-regulation and hypomethylation, but the precise mechanisms underlying these processes are unclear.
Subject(s)
DDT/toxicity , DNA Methylation/drug effects , Hypothalamus/metabolism , Insecticides/toxicity , Transcription, Genetic/drug effects , Animals , DDT/blood , Dichlorodiphenyl Dichloroethylene/blood , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins/genetics , HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins/metabolism , HSP90 Heat-Shock Proteins/genetics , HSP90 Heat-Shock Proteins/metabolism , Lipid Peroxidation/drug effects , Male , Oxidative Stress , RNA, Messenger/metabolism , Rats , Rats, WistarABSTRACT
Ecotoxicological hazards of 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl)ethane (p,p'-DDT) were investigated by a one-generation reproduction study using Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) under an Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) draft new test guideline 206 following acute and subchronic toxicity studies. In the subchronic feeding toxicity study, tremors, convulsions, and deaths were observed with a clear sex difference, males being more susceptible than females. The estimated total number of sperm tended to decrease in a dose-dependent manner at the end of 6-week treatment. In the one-generation reproduction study conducted at dose levels of 0, 6, 30, and 150 ppm, the estimated total number of sperm tended to decrease in a dose-dependent manner with a significant difference at 150 ppm. Tremors were observed in the majority of hatchlings in the 150 ppm group and at lower incidences in the 30 ppm group. Significantly high mortality rate in chicks persisted from treatment week 3-6 in the 150 ppm group and at treatment weeks 4 and 5 in the 30 ppm group. Despite of these severe adverse effects of p,p'-DDT on hatchlings and chicks, fertilization, egg laying, eggshell thickness or embryonic development was hardly impaired by p,p'-DDT or its metabolites. From these results, it appears that the OECD draft new avian one-generation reproduction test guideline is effective for ecological hazard assessment of chemicals.
Subject(s)
Coturnix , DDT/toxicity , Environmental Pollutants/toxicity , Fertilization/drug effects , Administration, Oral , Animals , Animals, Newborn , Embryo, Nonmammalian/embryology , Female , Guidelines as Topic , Male , Ovulation , Reproducibility of Results , Risk Assessment , Sex Factors , Toxicity Tests/methods , Tremor/chemically induced , Tremor/veterinaryABSTRACT
Changes in histology and Th1- and Th2-related cytokines expression in nasal mucosa were examined in Brown Norway (BN) and Fischer 344 (F344) rats after 5-day inhalation of 1% formaldehyde aerosol. In F344 rats, mucosal lesions characterized by degeneration and/or desquamation of epithelial cells with neutrophil infiltration were observed at all levels of nasal cavity and all kinds of mucosal epithelia were involved in such lesions. In BN rats, mucosal lesions were milder and the olfactory epithelium was free from lesions. The levels of Th1-related cytokines (IFN-gamma and IL-2) were significantly depressed and those of Th2-related cytokines (IL-4 and IL-5) also tended to be depressed in BN rats. In F344 rats, similar but much less clear alterations in the levels of Th1- and Th2-related cytokines were observed. Such results of measurement of Th1- and Th2-related cytokines mRNAs seem to be interesting although their significance is still obscure.
