Effects of exposure to tembotrione during gestation on serum oestradiol and testosterone levels in neonatal rats

Abstract

Tembotrione is a selective, triketone herbicide used for post-emergence weed control in corn. Some pesticides may act as endocrine disrupting chemicals because of their strong potential to bind to oestrogen and androgen receptors and change sex hormone status in males and females. Especially vulnerable groups are foetuses, infants and children in puberty. We investigated the effects of tembotrione exposure during gestation on oestradiol and testosterone levels in female and male neonatal Wistar rats at doses relevant to real human exposure. Pregnant Wistar rats were exposed orally to 0.0004 mg/kg b.w./day and 0.0007 mg/kg b.w./day of tembotrione each day during the entire gestation period. After delivery, blood samples of newborn rats were collected and oestradiol level was measured in female and testosterone level in male serum by enzyme- linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). We observed significantly increased serum oestradiol levels in female neonatal rats at 0.0007 mg/kg b.w./day. Similarly, significantly increased serum testosterone levels in male neonatal rats at 0.0004 mg/kg b.w./day were recorded. We also found a statistically significant difference between testosterone levels in male neonatal rats exposed to 0.0004 mg/kg b.w./day and 0.0007 mg/kg b.w./day. Our findings suggest that exposure to tembotrione during intrauterine development disturbs sexual hormone levels both in female and male neonatal rats. This may lead to different adverse health consequences later in adulthood. This work was financially supported by Project No. 8366 funded by the Croatian Science Foundation.