Tris-(2,3-Dibromopropyl) Isocyanurate, a New Emerging Pollutant, Impairs Cognition and Provokes Depression-Like Behaviors in Adult Rats.

Liang Ye,Huijuan Zhao,Hui Wang,Xihou Hu,Zhengping Hu,Wei Mi,Wenyan Wang,Wanglin Jiang,Haibo Zhu,Zhaoju Dong,Ning Li,David A Slattery

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0140281

Liang Ye, Huijuan Zhao + Show 10 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0140281

Copy DOI

Abstract

Tris-(2,3-dibromopropyl) isocyanurate (TDBP-TAZTO), an emerging brominated flame retardant, possesses the characteristics of candidate persistent organic pollutants and has displayed toxicity to fish and rodents. TDBP-TAZTO can pass through the blood brain barrier and accumulate in brain. However, the neurotoxicity of TDBP-TAZTO has not yet studied in rodents. We hypothesize that TDBP-TAZTO could induce the neurotoxicity in rat hippocampal neurons. The male adult rats were exposed to TDBP-TAZTO of 5 and 50 mg/kg by gavage, daily for 6 months. TDBP-TAZTO resulted in cognitive impairment and depression-like behaviors, which may be related with TDBP-TAZTO-induced hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis hyperactivation, upregulation of inflammatory and oxidative stress markers, overexpression of pro-apoptotic proteins, downexpression of neurogenesis-related proteins in hippocampus, and hippocampal neurons damage in DG, CA1 and CA3 areas. Our findings suggested that TDBP-TAZTO induces significant hippocampal neurotoxicity, which provokes cognitive impairment and depression-like behaviors in adult rats. Therefore, this research will contribute to evaluate the neurotoxic effects of TDBP-TAZTO in human.

Highlights

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) have been widely used to reduce fire-related injury and property damage in plastics, textiles, synthetic fibers and other materials [1, 2]
No significant differences in food consumption and body weight gain were noted in TDBP-TAZTO and control groups
The recent studies indicated that some BFRs can induce neurotoxicity, including some Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) [7]

Summary

Introduction

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) have been widely used to reduce fire-related injury and property damage in plastics, textiles, synthetic fibers and other materials [1, 2]. Some BFRs, such as tetrabromobisphenol-A and polybrominated diphenylethers, can accumulate in the human body and affect human health [3,4,5]. The accumulating data shown that some BFRs can induce neurotoxicity, immunotoxicity and endocrine toxicity in rodents [6,7,8]. Neurotoxicity Impairs Cognition and Provokes Depression-Like Behaviors

Methods

Results

Conclusion