Impact of a gestational exposure to diesel exhaust on offspring gonadal development: experimental study in the rabbit

Abstract

The aim of the present work was to address experimentally the possible impact of exposure to air pollution during gestation on the differentiation and function of the gonads of the offspring using a rabbit model. Rabbits were exposed daily to diluted diesel exhaust gas or filtered air from the 3rd until the 27th day of gestation, during which time germ cells migrate in genital ridges and divide, and fetal sex is determined. Offspring gonads were collected shortly before birth (28th day of gestation) or after puberty (7.5 months after birth). The structure of the gonads was analyzed by histological and immunohistological methods. Serum concentrations of testosterone and anti-Müllerian hormone were determined using ELISA. The morphology and the endocrine function of the gonads collected just at the arrest of the exposure were similar in polluted and control animals in both sexes. No differences were observed as well in gonads collected after puberty. Sperm was collected at the head of the epididymis in adults. Sperm motility and DNA fragmentation were measured. Among all parameters analyzed, only the sperm DNA fragmentation rate was increased three-fold in exposed males. Mechanisms responsible for these modifications and their physiological consequences are to be further clarified.

Investigating the role of BCAR4 in ovarian physiology and female fertility by genome editing in rabbit

“…It can be hypothesised that abnormal oocyte growth would have strongly impacted the oocyte transcriptome; a transcriptomic analysis of oocytes from females of the three genotypes might rather have shown the opposite. Plasma concentration of AMH was within the 0.9-5.0 ng/mL range, consistent with a previous report 12 , and values for wild-type and homozygous does fell within the same range (1,9-4,6 ng/mL). The high inter-individual variability was not unexpected, as it was previously observed in other species including humans, sheep and cows.…”

“…Quantitative analysis of AMH. AMH was measured in 50 µL thawed plasma diluted fourfold with plasma from a castrated male using the AMH GenII ELISA (Beckman-Coulter, Roissy, France) as previously described 12 . Seven twofold serial dilutions of the standard (from 0.078 to 5 ng/mL) diluted in the same plasma from castrated rabbit were analysed in duplicate; the mean of duplicates was used to establish the linear calibration curve (r = 0.999).…”

Models of Intrauterine growth restriction and fetal programming in rabbits

“…In rabbits, first‐generation (F1) pups that had been exposed to maternal diesel exhaust during gestation tended to weigh less at birth than the nonexposed group and subsequently displayed postnatal catch‐up growth (Valentino et al, ). F1 male offspring also showed increased rates of sperm DNA fragmentation as adults (Bourdon et al, ) and second‐generation (F2) fetuses from F1 females displayed altered lipid metabolism (lower plasma cholesterol and increased triglycerides) (Valentino et al, ). Taken together, these data suggest diesel engine exhaust exposure can induce transgenerational effects on offspring health.…”

Deciphering the Impact of Early-Life Exposures to Highly Variable Environmental Factors on Foetal and Child Health: Design of SEPAGES Couple-Child Cohort

“…Given the relatively large amount of studies on non-persistent chemicals in the toxicological literature, the animal study, a 2-generation monitoring of New-Zealand white rabbits, was focused on gestational exposure to air pollutants, specifically diesel engine exhaust [56]. This study and its first results were already presented elsewhere [56,57,58,59].…”