Journal of Andrology
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Published-Ahead-of-Print October 31, 2007, DOI:10.2164/jandrol.107.003020

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Gestational Exposure to Atrazine: Effects on the Postnatal Development of Male Offspring

Brian G. Rosenberg , Haolin Chen , Janet Folmer , June Liu , Vassilios Papadopoulos , and Barry R. Zirkin *

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: brzirkin{at}jhsph.edu.

Atrazine is a herbicide used worldwide to control grasses and weeds. Previous studies have shown that, depending on its administered dose, the exposure of male rats to atrazine during the early postnatal or peripubertal periods can result in alterations in endocrine function. The gestational period is particularly vulnerable to environmental agents. As yet, however, the possible effects of atrazine exposure during this period have received only limited attention. Herein we examine the dose effects of atrazine exposure during Sprague Dawley rat gestation on the postnatal development of the male offspring. Pregnant dams were treated by oral gavage with atrazine at 0-100 mg/kg/day from gestational day 14 to parturition. Thereafter, neither the pups nor the dams received atrazine. Atrazine had no effect on the number of live births per dam. Neonatal pup survival was affected, however, with increased pup death seen at doses of 10 mg/kg/day and above. There was no effect of atrazine on the testosterone concentration within the testes of newborn pups. Anogenital distance, an androgen-dependent process, decreased from the control level at the 75 and 100 mg/kg/day doses, with the decrease reaching significance at 100 mg/kg/day. Preputial separation, also an androgen-dependent process, was delayed significantly compared to controls in response to the 50 and 100 mg/kg/day doses. At postnatal day 60, serum testosterone concentrations were reduced significantly from controls in the 50-100 mg/kg/day groups. However, these decreases had little effect on seminal vesicle or ventral prostate weights. These results, taken together, are suggestive of anti-androgenic effects of gestational atrazine exposure on male offspring, though for most parameters at doses that are unlikely to be experienced under any but experimental conditions. Keywords: atrazine, gestation, Leydig cells, steroidogenesis, antiandrogen


Key words: Androgen • Puberty • Reproductive Tract • Steroidogenesis • Leydig cell • atrazine • gestation






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Copyright © 2007 by The American Society of Andrology.