Andrea Adamcakova-Dodd
University of Iowa, USA
Posters-Accepted Abstracts: J Drug Metab Toxicol
Increasing number of individuals may be exposed to nanomaterials during pregnancy. Overarching goal of this investigation was to determine if prenatal inhalation exposure to Cu NPs has an effect on dams and offspring and if their Th1/Th2 cytokine profiles were affected. Physicochemical characteristics of Cu NPs were evaluated. Pregnant and non-pregnant mice (C57Bl/6J) were exposed to Cu NPs in the whole-body exposure chamber for 4 hrs/day on gestation day (GD) 3-19 (3.5 mg/m3). The results demonstrate that survival rate of pups at 7 wks of age was significantly lower if they were exposed to Cu NPs during gestation, compared to controls (73% vs. 93%). The average litter size, male/female ratio, birth weight as well as body size at birth was not different between Cu NP-exposed and control mice. Both pregnant and non-pregnant mice exposed to Cu NPs had significant pulmonary inflammation with increased number of neutrophils in the BAL fluid/mouse compared to pregnant and non-pregnant controls. Perivascular lymphoplasmacytic cuffing was found in the lungs of exposed mice and was more pronounced in the non-pregnant group. Similarly, levels of following cytokines (IL-12(p40), G-CSF, GM-CSF, KC, MCP-1, MIP-1�±, MIP-1�², RANTES and TNF-�±) in BAL fluid were significantly higher in non-pregnant than pregnant exposed mice. Histopathology evaluation of placentas did not find any pathological changes. No translocation of Cu NPs into the placenta or fetus was found using ICP-MS method. Expression of several Th1/Th2 or other immune response genes in pups spleens were found to be significantly up- or down-regulated. Prenatal exposure to Cu NPs caused a strong immunomodulatory effects in offspring.
