ABSTRACT
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00788.].
ABSTRACT
Next-generation effects and further transgenerational effects of an endocrine disruptor, bisphenol A (BPA), were investigated in zebrafish. The effects of BPA treatment through dietary administration in male and female zebrafish on reproductive factors, such as gonadal activity, fertility, hatching rate and malformation in subsequent generations, were examined through the third filial (F3) generation. BPA treatment of initial generation (F0) not only caused retraction of the ovaries and testes but also lowered the survival rate and increased the rate of malformation of the offspring. Although the overall phenotypes of the surviving first filial (F1) generation offspring of treated fish initially appeared to be normal, we found abnormalities in their reproductive tissues after they matured to adulthood. Although the juveniles were fed a normal diet, the ovaries of 40% of the F1 generation fish remained small and did not develop vitellogenic oocytes. Moreover, sterile male fish appeared at a higher percentage (48%) than control (10%). Adverse transgenerational effects on the fecundity of the second filial (F2) and F3 generation fish were also observed. In each generation, survival rate of embryos were significantly low and abnormal embryos were appeared in offspring from BPA treated ancestral. These results demonstrate that the effects of BPA are transferred to subsequent generations not only through oocytes but also through sperm.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is difficult to diagnose as patients rarely present with specific symptoms. However, a mosaic attenuation pattern (MAP) in chest computed tomography (CT) suggests CTEPH. Areas of increased attenuation are not always visible using default CT settings for the lung. Thus, we examined the utility of non-contrast CT imaging with new settings focusing on MAP (CTMosaic) for the assessment of pulmonary perfusion in patients with CTEPH. The regional perfusion defects visualized using CTMosaic and single-photon-emission CT with fusion of CT images (SPECT/CT) were compared. METHODS: Twenty-seven patients with CTEPH (20 women; aged 62.8±7.9 years) underwent imaging with non-contrast CT and SPECT/CT. We converted non-contrast mediastinal CT images into various CT window settings to identify the MAP, and the CT window setting that could most easily identify the MAP was defined as CTMosaic. We then scored and compared lung segments depending on the degree of perfusion on CTMosaic and SPECT/CT. RESULTS: CTMosaic was identified as the CT window setting in which the window level was -800 Hounsfield units (HU), and the window width was 200 HU. Using CTMosaic, MAP was detected in 366 of 486 segments (75.3%). The agreement between CTMosaic and perfusion defects on SPECT/CT was 84.9%. Weighted kappa statistics demonstrated a good agreement between the two examinations (κ=0.605, 95% confidence interval, 0.502-0.707). CONCLUSIONS: The CTMosaic setting can easily identify an MAP in CTEPH patients. Therefore, this may be useful as a simple and cost-effective evaluation method for blood distribution in patients with CTEPH.
