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PERINATAL EXPOSURE TO ATRAZINE SUPPRESSES JUVENILE IMMUNE FUNCTION IN MALE, BUT NOT FEMALE SPRAGUE-DAWLEY RATS
Citation:
Rooney, A A. AND R W. Luebke. PERINATAL EXPOSURE TO ATRAZINE SUPPRESSES JUVENILE IMMUNE FUNCTION IN MALE, BUT NOT FEMALE SPRAGUE-DAWLEY RATS. Presented at Society of Toxicology 42nd Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, Utah, March 9-13,2003.
Description:
PERINATAL EXPOSURE TO ATRAZINE SUPPRESSES JUVENILE IMMUNE FUNCTION IN MALE, BUT NOT FEMALE SPRAGUE-DAWLEY RATS. AA Rooney1 and RW Luebke2. 1NCSU/USEPA CVM, Department of Anatomy, Physiological Sciences, and Radiology, Raleigh, NC;2USEPA, NHEERL, RTP, NC.
The ability of the chloro-triazine herbicide atrazine (ATR) to induce transitory hypoprolactinemia or hypothyroidism suggests that ATR may have perinatal immunomodulatory potential either directly or through the immunoregulatory properties of prolactin and thyroid hormones. Although there is no evidence of ATR immunotoxicity in juvenile or adult rats, we have previously shown that perinatal exposure to ATR decreased DTH responses in male offspring. Therefore, to further evaluate ATR as a developmental immunotoxicant, pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to 4 separate treatment regimes from gestational day 10 through post-natal day (PND) 23: 1) ATR (35mg/kg/day) in methylcellulose via gavage, 2) bromocryptine (0.2mg/kg/2x/day) s.c. to induce hypoprolactinemia, 3) propylthiouracil (2mg/kg/day) s.c. to induce hypothyroidism, or 4) methylcellulose via gavage for control dams. Offspring were then tested after PND 50 for: 1) natural killer (NK) cell function, 2) delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) response to bovine-serum albumin (BSA), and 3) antibody response to SRBC. Exposure of pregnant dams to ATR decreased IgM production and DTH responses in male offspring; therefore, these ATR-affected measures were examined in 6 month old rats to test for persistence. No immunosuppression was found in 6 month old rats. These results demonstrate that perinatal exposure to ATR produced temporary gender specific changes in adult immune function. Although transitory hypoprolactinemia increased IgM production in female rats, neither hypothyroidism nor hypoprolactinemia altered NK or DTH responses, suggesting that immune changes associated with ATR exposure are not mediated through suppression of these hormones. (This abstract does not reflect EPA policy and was supported in part by the NCSU/EPA Cooperative Training Program in Environmental Sciences Research, Training Agreement CT826512010 with North Carolina State University).