Identification of inflammatory parameters and oxidative stress in the ventral prostate of rats exposed to a phthalate mixture during development

• Grant number: 19/27297-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2020
• End date: June 30, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Morphology - Embryology
• Principal Investigator: Wellerson Rodrigo Scarano
• Grantee: Marcos Antonio Fernandes de Oliveira
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IBB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Environmental factors have influenced the intrauterine microenvironment, which has had important consequences on late development due to the actuation of these substances as endocrine disruptors. It should be noticed that most of these substances are commonly found in food packaging materials, children's toys, nail polishes, special care products. Phthalates represent a group of ubiquitous substances widely used in the industrial environment. Due to the constant dispersal of phthalate metabolites in the environment, it is currently possible to detect them at different concentrations in the urine of pregnant women, plasma and placenta in humans. Therefore it is important to understand the consequences of early exposure of individuals on reproductive parameters and especially on development. A previous study from our group showed that perinatal exposure to BPD (Di-n-butyl phthalate) increased the incidence of premalignant and inflammatory lesions in adult animals. In this sense, the objective of this project will be to identify if the mixture of 6 phthalates (more abundant in pregnant women 's urine and blood samples) during development can alter molecular parameters involved with the inflammatory process and oxidative stress, which are important factors in prostate carcinogenesis. For this, pregnant Sprague Dawley rats will be randomly assigned to 3 experimental groups: C: (control; vehicle); T1: 20µg / kg / day, T2: 200mg / kg / day (gavage); and exposed from gestational day 10 (DG10) to postnatal day 21 (DPN21). Male rats will be euthanized in two moments, in DPN22 and DPN120. The ventral prostate will be collected and fixed for mast cell and blood vessel labeling (for angiogenic process evaluation), for inflammatory and oxidative stress markers by RTq-PCR, and to measure antioxidant enzymes activity on PND22 and PND120. (AU)