Transplacental passage and embryonic-fetal accumulation of hexachlorophene in mice

Abstract

Whole-body autoradiography and liquid scintillation counting were used to study the transplacental passage and embryonic-fetal localization of hexachlorophene (HCP) in the mouse. In early gestation (Days 8–9) there was a selective accumulation of HCP in the fetal neural epithelium, e.g., in the brain and optic vesicles and in the neural tube. Although weaker, a certain uptake was observed also in the endoderm, ectoderm, and somites. In late gestation, the fetal retention of HCP was pronounced, giving considerably higher concentrations in the fetal tissues than in the maternal blood. The fetal retention of HCP increased as the pregnancy progressed. In the late gestational fetuses the distribution pattern was even, compared to that of the early embryos, the strongest labeling being observed in the blood. The uptake in the fetal liver was low when compared to the maternal, but in the fetal intestine the concentration was fairly high. As was the case in the adult animal, a blood-brain barrier was observed also in the full term fetuses.