Environmentally-Sourced Endocrine-Disruptors and Their Physiological and Psychological Effects on Mice

Abstract

Researchers in the field of toxicology strive to determine the impact that exposure to teratogens and toxins have on long-term developmental, cognitive, and behavioral outcomes. One group of toxins that have been of note lately is endocrine disruptors, including bisphenol A (BPA). BPA is a man-made compound that is used in the manufacture of many products. This compound mimics estrogen in the body and disrupts typical functioning. Most BPA and other endocrine disruptors (BPAOED) research exposes the animal model through invasive means, such as injection, gavaging, and subcutaneous methods of exposure. Many of these methods serve to increase stress levels in the animal model, creating the potential for serious confounds in behavioral research. Humans are not under stress when interacting with BPAOED, and we interact with these substances discretely. In order to produce an exposure paradigm that mirrors human exposure in a laboratory setting, mice in the experimental group were exposed solely through environmental influences in a BPAOED-rich environment from conception until adulthood. Half of the mice remained in the BPAOED-rich environment. The other half were placed in a BPAOED-free environment in order to determine if efforts to reduce exposure to this class of toxins can lead to improvements in psychological and physiological health. Anxiety-like-behavior was measured using the elevated plus maze and depressive-like-behaviors were measured through the forced swim test. Physiological health measures were also collected to determine the effects of exposure to BPAOED on measures of toxicity, including liver weight, brain weight, and thymus weight.