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PREGNANCY ALTERATIONS FOLLOWING XENOBIOTIC-INDUCED DELAYS IN OVULATION IN THE FEMALE RAT
Citation:
Cooper, R., M. Barrett, J. Goldman, G. Rehnberg, W. McElroy, AND T. Stoker. PREGNANCY ALTERATIONS FOLLOWING XENOBIOTIC-INDUCED DELAYS IN OVULATION IN THE FEMALE RAT. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-95/094.
Description:
Female rats were exposed to the formamidine pesticide chlordimeform (50 mg/kg) or sodium pentobarbital (35 mg/kg) at selected times during the estrous cycle and the effect of this treatment on pregnancy outcome was evaluated. When exposed on the afternoon of vaginal proestrus, both compounds resulted in a delay in the hormonal control of ovulation for 24 or 48 hours (depending on treatment schedule) and a concomitant decrease in litter size. The decreased litter size appeared to be due mainly to pre-implantation loss. It was also shown that the effect on ovulation and reduced fertility is due to the action of the compounds on the brain and not the ovary. Collectively, these data show that acute or "burst" exposures to certain classes of compounds in the non-pregnant female can alter subsequent fertility through a non-genomic mechanism.