Locomotor activity and postnatal development of rats after exposure to 2,3,7,8-TCDD during the late fetal and early postnatal period

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

Postnatal physical development and locomotor activity was studied in offspring of Wistar rats exposed to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo- p-dioxin (TCDD) in the late fetal and early postnatal period. The dosing schedule used caused a slight delay in development, as evaluated by a reduced body weight gain during the 2 nd to 4 th week of the study. No significant differences in the locomotor activity between controls and TCDD-exposed offspring were detectable under our experimental conditions. The same holds true for the signs of physical development when the slight delay in postnatal development was taken into consideration.