Nuclear Morphometric Analysis of Leydig Cells of Male Pubertal Rats Exposed In Utero to Di(n-butyl) Phthalate

Autor: Masao Asari, Tomoo Inomata, Hitoshi Endou, Takemi Satoh, Michael F. Wempe, Masaya Motohashi, Shin Wakui, Hiroyuki Takahashi, Masaru Shirai, Tomoko Mutou
Rok vydání: 2013
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Toxicologic Pathology. 26:439-446
ISSN: 1881-915X
0914-9198
DOI: 10.1293/tox.2013-0031
Popis: We recently reported that prenatal rat exposure to di(n-butyl) phthalate (DBP) induced Leydig cell (LC) hyperplasia after nine weeks (wks) of age, yet the number of LCs was similar to that of the vehicle group until seven weeks. Nuclear pleomorphism of hyperplastic LCs is common and is considered to be continuous progressive degeneration. Thus, computer-assisted image cell nuclear analysis of LCs was performed on 5- and 7-wk-old Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats whose dams had been administered DBP (i.g.) at 100 mg/kg/day or vehicle (corn oil) on gestation day 12 to 21. The results of the 5-wk-old DBP group were similar to those of the vehicle group; LC nuclei of the 7-wk-old DBP group showed normal ploidy and similar amounts of DNA. However, the size, elongation and peripheral chromatin aggregation parameters were significantly higher, and the reticular chromatin distribution and isolated chromatin aggregation parameters were significantly lower compared with the vehicle group. The present study quantitatively demonstrated nuclear morphological alterations in rat LCs at 7 wks old (puberty) due to the prenatal DBP administration before apparent LC hyperplasia developed.
Databáze: OpenAIRE