Alteration of rat adrenal cortex after low-dose exposure to endocrine disrupting chemical dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane since the first day of postnatal development

• Yaglova N.V.
• Tsomartova D.A.
• Obernikhin S.S.
• Nazimova S.V.

AbstractThe purpose of the present study was to examine morphological and functional alterations in adrenal cortex of rats exposed to low doses of DDT since the first day of postnatal development till puberty. Daily consumption of DDT was 3.71±0.15 Mg/kg bw. This level of exposure corresponds with human daily intake of DDT with food products according to maximum permissive levels of food contamination. Production of steroid hormones of the adrenal cortex was evaluated by quantification of aldosterone, corticosterone, estradiol, and estrone serum levels by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Organometry and light microscopy of the adrenal glands were performed. After six weeks of exposure serum concentration of aldosterone was elevated by 50% in average, estradiol - by 25%, estrone - by 29%, but serum level of corticosterone was decreased by 53% compared to the control values. The adrenal glands had decreased weight and reduced cortex width from 897.75±23.31 to 776.25±19.91 Mm mainly due to narrowing of reticularis zona by 11.35%. Histological examination also found proportional increase of cell number in mm2 of reticularis zona and therefore found no differences in total endocrine cell count in reticularis zona between the control (14 085.94±704.30) and DDT exposed rats (13 678.20±410.34). Light microscopy revealed hemorrhages between glomerulosa zona and fasciculata zona as well as fasciculate zona and reticularis zona, foci of discomplexity in fasciculate zona, dystrophy and decreased size of fasculata cells. The data obtained demonstrated that low-dose exposure to DDT during postnatal development led to obvious changes in morphology and function of rat adrenal gland. Low doses of DDT disrupt steroid hormone production by all layers of adrenal cortex in puberty. The results show that very low-dose exposure to DDT needs further investigations, and safety of maximum permissible levels of DDT and other endocrine disrupting chemicals in food products should be reassessed.

Keywords:endocrine disrupting chemicals, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, adrenal gland, steroid hormones

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