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THE DEVELOPMENTAL IMMUNOTOXICITY OF DIBUTYLTIN DICHLORIDE IN SPRAGUE-DAWLEY RATS
Citation:
DEWITT, J., C. B. COPELAND, AND R. W. LUEBKE. THE DEVELOPMENTAL IMMUNOTOXICITY OF DIBUTYLTIN DICHLORIDE IN SPRAGUE-DAWLEY RATS. Presented at Annual Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Meeting 2005, Baltimore, MD, November 13 - 17, 2005.
Description:
Methyl- and butyltin compounds used as stabilizers in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe production are of concern as they leach from supply pipes into drinking water and have been associated with multisystem toxicity. This study assessed immune function in Sprague-Dawley (CD) rats developmentally exposed to the stabilizer dibutyltin dichloride (DBTC). Individually housed pregnant CD dams were given drinking water containing 0, 10 or 25 mg DBTC/L in 0.5% Alkamuls from gestational day six to post-natal day 21 (PND21, weaning). Offspring were exposed via gestation and lactation (indirect group) or via gestation and lactation plus oral gavage with 0, 1.0, or 2.5 mg DBTC/kg body weight/dose for a total of ten doses given three times/week beginning at PND3 (direct group). Water consumption and body weights (BW) were recorded bi-weekly in dams and three times weekly in offspring. Water consumption was statistically decreased in dams consuming 25 mg DBTC/L, although BW did not vary by dose. Delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH), primary and secondary antibody responses to sheep red blood cells, and natural killer (NK) cell activity were evaluated in separate groups of immunologically mature treated and control offspring. Direct DBTC exposure decreased BW gain in both sexes from the 25 mg/L group. DTH response and NK cell activity did not vary by dose for any group. IgM was suppressed in females from the direct group and IgG was elevated in males from the indirect group. However, as these effects occurred only within the high dose of 25 mg DBTC/L, which is a concentration a million times higher than levels of DBTC reported in drinking water, our data suggest that DBTC is unlikely to be associated with developmental immunotoxicity at concentrations found in drinking water supplies. This abstract does not reflect EPA policy and was supported by UNC/EPA Cooperative Training Agreement CT829472.