Effects of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on gestational hormone production in a placental cell line: Application of passive dosing to in vitro tests

Abstract

Air pollution includes polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which have been correlated to endocrine disruptor pathways during early pregnancy. PAHs have been found in the placenta and cord blood, which may affect the hormones involved in placental development. We studied the effects of some airborne PAHs on beta human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG) and progesterone production by using a syncytial BeWo cell line as a placental model. PAH congeners were spiked in silicon rubber membrane (SRMs) and were then introduced into the cell medium by the passive dosing method to reach a freely dissolved concentration for BeWo cell exposure. Ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a diode array detector was used to analyze the PAHs, and electrochemiluminescence was used to test the hormone levels. Our results showed that passive dosing can deliver low levels of PAH congeners in the cell medium, which allowed us to calculate the individual release constants at equilibrium and to estimate their effects. Benzo[a]pyrene was released quickly from the SRMs to the cell medium, which can be attributed to its lipophilic properties. The PAHs were shown to decrease the β-hCG level in the short term and progesterone level in the long term, so they may serve as a pathway for endocrine disorder in trophoblastic cells. This approximation may explain observations of impaired endometrium receptivity and placental dysfunction, which enhance adverse pregnancy outcomes such as embryonic mortality and intrauterine growth restriction.