© 1992 Oxford University Press
research-article |
Reproductive Study of Acrolein on Two Generations of Rats
* Consultox, Ltd. P. O. Box 14082, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70898North Carolina 27514
Baker Performance chemicals, Inc. Houston, Texas
Argus Research Laboratories, Horsham Pennsylvania
Received August 8, 1991; accepted January 24, 1992
Four groups of 30 male and 30 female rats were intubated with 70 daily doses of acrolein at levels of 0, 1, 3, or 6 mg/kg in a dosing volume of 5 ml/kg. Rats within each dosing group (F0 generation) were then assigned to a 21-day period of cohabitation and dosing for females continued through cohabitation gestation and lactation. Males were euthanized after cohabitation. F1 generation rats were chosen from pups, and a similar pretreatment, cohabitation, gestation, and lactation regimen was accomplished resulting in F2 generation pups. Reproductive parameters, body weights, food consumption, and clinical signs were recorded and necropsies were carried out on all treated animals. Histopathologic exams were accomplished on selected reproductive tissues. In addition, gross lesions, target tissues, stomachs, and lungs were examined. For the most part, reproductive parameters were unaffected by acrolein treatment with the exception of reduced pup weights in the F1 generation pups at the high-dose level (6 mg/kg/day). Gastric lesions were noted consistently in high-dose animals and some mid-dose (3 mg/kg/day) rats. Erosions of glandular mucosa and hyperplasia/hyper keratosis of the forestomach were the most frequent stomach lesions observed. Effects on body weight gains were noted frequently for the high-dose animals and achieved statistical sig nificance in the mid-dose animals on several occasions. Mortality in all high-dose animals was elevated relative to control animals. Acrolein, therefore, cannot be considered a selective reproductive toxin in the rat, but does produce toxicological effects down to a dosing level of 3 mg/kg/day.