OBJECTIVETo study the effects of embryonic lead exposure on food intake and bowel movement in offspring rats and possible mechanisms.

METHODSSprague-Dawley rats were given 0.1% (low-dose lead exposure group) or 0.2% (high-dose lead exposure group) lead acetate freely during pregnancy to establish an animal model of embryonic lead exposure. A blank control group was also established. The male offspring rats were enrolled in the study, and 10 male offspring rats from each group were selected to observe the changes in food intake, bowel movement, gastric emptying, intestine propulsion, and pathological inflammatory response in the gastric mucosa. Eight offspring rats were selected from each group, and electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry were used to observe the changes in the ultrastructure of jejunal microvilli and cell junction and the expression of cholecystokinin-8 (CCK-8) and motilin (MTL) in the feeding center, in order to reveal the possible mechanisms for abnormal gastrointestinal motility in offspring rats induced by embryonic lead exposure.

RESULTSCompared with the control group, the low- and high-dose lead exposure groups had a significant reduction in daily food intake, a significant increase in water content of feces, a significant reduction in fecal pellet weight, and a significant increase in small intestine propulsion (P<0.05). The high-dose lead exposure group had a significant reduction in gastric emptying ability compared with the control group (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the lead exposure groups had significantly greater pathological inflammatory changes in the gastric mucosa (P<0.05), significant reductions in the number and length of the jejunal microvilli and the number of epithelial desmosome junctions (P<0.05), a significant increase in the macula densa gap (P<0.05), and significant increases in the expression of MTL and CCK-8 in the feeding center (P<0.05), in a dose-dependent manner.

CONCLUSIONSThe degree of gastrointestinal structural injury and expression levels of MTL and CCK-8 in the feeding center are lead dose-dependent, which may be important mechanisms for changes in food intake, bowel movement, and digestive functions in offspring rats induced by embryonic lead exposure.

Animals ; Defecation ; drug effects ; Eating ; drug effects ; Female ; Fetus ; drug effects ; Gastric Emptying ; drug effects ; Jejunum ; drug effects ; pathology ; Lead ; toxicity ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of calcium on learning and memory ability of rats exposed to low level lead before and after birth.

METHODSWistar dam rats were randomly divided into normal group, lead-contaminated group and lead with Ca group. Corresponding food and water were given to pregnant rats from d 15 of gestation and to young rats till 7 w after birth. The weight of brain and hippocampus, blood lead content, serum calcium content, learning and memory ability of young rats were tested.

RESULTThe blood lead concentrations: lead-contaminated group was the highest, lead with Ca group the second and normal group the lowest. Serum calcium concentrations: normal group and lead with Ca group were both higher than lead contaminated group. Ability of learning and memory: lead with Ca group was better than lead-contaminated group, but poorer than normal group. No differences were found upon the weight of brain and hippocampus in all groups.

CONCLUSIONA minilaparotomy approach for curative resection of rectal cancer may be an ideal alternative approach to conventional laparotomy.

Animals ; Calcium ; pharmacology ; Female ; Fetus ; drug effects ; Hippocampus ; drug effects ; pathology ; Lead ; blood ; toxicity ; Learning ; drug effects ; Male ; Memory ; drug effects ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

OBJECTIVETo explore the effects of Di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) on the testis and testicular gubernaculum of fetal KM mice in vivo and to investigate the mechanism of DEHP-induced cryptorchidism.

METHODSThirty healthy pregnant KM mice were randomly and equally divided into a blank control group, a corn oil control group and a DEHP group. The pregnant mice in the latter group were exposed to DEHP by gavage at the dose of 500 mg/kg body weight per day from gestation day 12 (GD12) through gestation day 19 (GD19). The effects of DEHP were observed on the number of fetuses per pregnancy, the ratio of male to female pups, the weight of the testis, the morphology and location of the testis and gubernaculum, the relative testis-bladder neck distance (TBD) and cranial suspensory ligament (CSL) residual. The expressions of the androgen receptor (AR), estrogen receptor (ER) and actin and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in the gubernaculum were detected by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTSDEHP reduced the testis weight and TBD, induced different degrees of testis maldescent, but produced no obvious effect on the body weight, the number of fetuses per pregnancy, the sex ratio and the testis gubernacular morphology. Under the light microscope, hypotrophy was seen in all the testis seminiferous tubules, spermatogenic cells and Sertoli cells, marked Leydig cell hyperplasia was noted, and the positive expression of AR in the gubernaculum was decreased in the DEHP group (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONDEHP could cause dysfunction of the testis gubernaculum via its anti-androgen effect, induce cryptorchidism, and cause dysplasia and dysfunction of Sertoli cells, Leydig cells and spermatogenic cells in fetal mice.

Animals ; Diethylhexyl Phthalate ; pharmacology ; Female ; Fetus ; drug effects ; Leydig Cells ; drug effects ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred Strains ; Pregnancy ; Sertoli Cells ; drug effects ; Testis ; cytology ; drug effects ; pathology

Carbon monoxide gas is found in the atmosphere whenever society has become industrialized. In addition to the fact that Korea has become industrialized, bituminous coal is used to heat homes here, in heating systems that, if not very carefully maintained, leak this gas, resulting in a number of deaths and near deaths each winter. It has only rarely been reported by investigators that genetic damage may be done transplacentally to a human fetus by a pregnant woman's being poisoned by CO. We explored this by evaluating the damage done to the mouse fetus through an in vivo experiment, using micronucleus and sister chromatid exchange (SCE) tests. Mice were mated and pregnant ones divided into a group that received acute exposures on 3 different days, a group that received chronic exposure, and a control group. In the meantime in the control group the incidence of both micronuclei and SCE was less on the maternal side, in both the acute and chronic exposure groups, whereas the incidences of both micronuclei and SCE were more on the maternal side. However, the incidence on the fetal side was not far behind. Increasing, the dosage of carbon monoxide with gestational age increased the incidence of both micronuclei and SCE in the mother and fetus alike.
Animal ; Carbon Monoxide/toxicity* ; Cell Nucleus/drug effects* ; Female ; Fetus/drug effects* ; Maternal-Fetal Exchange ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Mutagens* ; Pregnancy ; Sister Chromatid Exchange/drug effects*

OBJECTIVETo explore the effects of embryonic lead exposure on motor function and balance ability in offspring rats and the possible mechanisms.

METHODSAn animal model of embryonic lead exposure was prepared with the use of pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats freely drinking 0.1% (low-dose group, LG) or 0.2% (high-dose group, HG) lead acetate solution. A normal control group (NG) was also set. The male offspring rats of these pregnant rats were included in the study, consisting of 12 rats in the NG group, 10 rats in the LG group, and 9 rats in the HG group. The offspring rats' motor function and balance ability were evaluated using body turning test and coat hanger test. Eight rats were randomly selected from each group, and immunohistochemistry and Timm's staining were employed to measure the expression of c-Fos and mossy fiber sprouting (MFS) in the hippocampus.

RESULTSThe HG group had a significantly longer body turning time than the NG and LG groups (P<0.05), and the LG group had a significantly longer body turning time than the NG group (P<0.05). The HG group had a significantly lower score of balance ability than the NG and LG groups (P<0.05), and the LG group had a significantly lower score of balance ability than the NG group (P<0.05). The area percentage of c-Fos-positive neurons in the hippocampal CA1 region was significantly higher in the HG group than in the other two groups (P<0.05), and it was significantly higher in the LG group than in the NG group (P<0.05). The semi-quantitative scores of MFS in the hippocampal CA3 region and dentate gyrus were significantly higher in the HG group than in the other two groups (P<0.05), and they were significantly higher in the LG group than in the NG group (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSEmbryonic lead exposure could impair the offspring rats' motor function and balance ability. These changes may be related to increased c-Fos expression in the hippocampal CA3 region and abnormal MFS in the hippocampal CA3 region and dentate gyrus.

Animals ; Female ; Fetus ; drug effects ; Hippocampus ; chemistry ; drug effects ; Lead ; toxicity ; Male ; Mossy Fibers, Hippocampal ; drug effects ; Motor Activity ; drug effects ; Postural Balance ; drug effects ; Pregnancy ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos ; analysis ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Alcoholism ; physiopathology ; Animals ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Evoked Potentials, Auditory ; drug effects ; Female ; Fetus ; drug effects ; Pregnancy ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

OBJECTIVETo explore the effect of Ruiqi tablet on mitochondrion activities in the cerebral cortex neurons of fetal mice.

METHODThe cerebral cortex of fetal Wistar rats after 16- 17 gestation days were collected and randomized into Ruiqi tablet group and blank control group after 4-5 days' culture. Laser scanning confocal microscope was adopted to determine the changes in the mitochondrion activities of the primary cultured cerebral cortex neurons of fetal rats after addition of Ruiqi tablet solution.

RESULTRuiqi tablet can increase the mitochondrion activities of the cerebral cortex neurons. No significant change in the mitochondrion activities of the cerebral cortex neurons was found in the blank control group.

CONCLUSIONRuiqi tablet can increase the mitochondrion activities of the neurons and it has certain application prospects in treatment of some neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, Parkinson's disease and so on.

Animals ; Cerebral Cortex ; cytology ; drug effects ; physiopathology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Female ; Fetus ; chemistry ; drug effects ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Microscopy, Confocal ; Mitochondria ; drug effects ; physiology ; Models, Animal ; Neurons ; drug effects ; physiology ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Tablets

Amniotic Fluid ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Female ; Fetus ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ; drug effects ; genetics ; Humans ; MicroRNAs ; genetics ; pharmacology ; Placenta ; metabolism ; Pregnancy ; RNA, Plant ; genetics ; pharmacology ; Umbilical Cord ; drug effects ; metabolism

Campylobacter fetus subsp. fetus is a rare human pathogen, but can cause serious extraintestinal infections. Effective antimicrobial agent is required for the therapy, but we have very limited knowledge on the susceptibility of the organism. In this study, the susceptibility of 25 isolates of the organism to 14 antimicrobial agents was tested by an agar dilution method. Antimicrobial agents with low MIC ranges, in micrograms/ml, were: meropenem Y or = 0.25, dirithromycin < or = 0.5, gentamicin > or = 1, amikacin, ofloxacin, tetracycline and erythromycin < or = 2. The MIC range of cefepime was 0.5-8 micrograms/ml, but those of other beta-lactams were relatively high. All of the isolates were interpreted to be susceptible to cefepime, meropenem, amikacin, gentamicin, ofloxacin, tetracycline and dirithromycin. A significant proportion of the isolates were either intermediate or resistant to ampicillin, cephalothin, cefotaxime, aztreonam, loracarbef and erythromycin. In conclusion, the organism remains susceptible to aminoglycosides and tetracycline. Greater in vitro activity of meropenem, ofloxacin and dirithromycin require clinical evaluation.
Antibiotics/*pharmacology ; Blood/*microbiology ; Campylobacter fetus/*drug effects/isolation & purification ; Human ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Synovial Fluid/*microbiology

OBJECTIVETo establish a mouse model of hypospadias induced by flutamide to further studying molecular mechanisms of hypospadias etiology.

METHODSEighty timed pregnant ICR mice were randomly divided into four groups. Flutamide was injected subcutaneously (s.c.) with mixture sesame oil at 0 (Group A), 25 (Group B), 50 (Group C), 100 (Group D) mg.kg-1.d-1 from GD (gestation days) 12 to 16, respectively. The fetuses of two pregnants from each group were anatomized to observe the position of testes and the development of prostates on the day of delivery. Urethras and the position of testes were examined on postnatal day 28.

RESULTSHypospadias was seen in Group A (0), B (44.2%), C (92.7%) and D (100%), and cryptorchidism in Group A (0), B (4.8%), C (23.2%) and D (32.4%), respectively. Flutamide caused 100% incidence of prostate agenesis in Group C and D and 19.2% in Group B, and 100% incidence of female-like anogenital distance in Group B, C, and D.

CONCLUSIONThe experimental model of hypospadias induced by flutamide is steadier and more suitable for popularization.

Androgen Antagonists ; toxicity ; Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Female ; Fetus ; drug effects ; Flutamide ; toxicity ; Hypospadias ; chemically induced ; Male ; Mice ; Pregnancy