Carcinogenesis, Teratogenesis & Mutagenesis

Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effects of joint exposure to formaldehyde and benzene on mice embryos
 

ZHANG Zhe1YUAN Heng1,2,ZHU Wu1,HUANG He1,LUO Xiao-min2,*   

  1. (1. Department of Histology and Embryology, College of Basic Medicine, Central South University, Changsha 410013; 2. Department of Histology and Embryology, Changsha School of Medicine, Changsha 410219, Hunan, China)
  • Received:2013-01-28 Revised:2013-04-17 Online:2013-09-30 Published:2013-09-30
  • Contact: LUO Xiao-min,E-mail:sunshine951753@sina.com

Abstract:

OBJECTIVE: To study the combined effects of formaldehyde and benzene on the development of mice embryo after implantation. METHODSPregnant mice were randomly divided into four groups and exposed to different concentrations of formaldehyde and benzene starting from embryo implantation for 15 days. The concentrations of formaldehyde and benzene were 0 mg/m3 of formaldehyde and 0 mg/m3 of benzene for control group,(0.10±0.01) mg/m3 of formaldehyde and (0.11±0.01) mg/m3 of benzene for low dose group,(5.00±0.30) mg/m3 of formaldehyde and (5.50±0.40) mg/m3 of benzene for medium dose group,(10.00±0.50) mg/m3 of formaldehyde and (11.00±0.50) mg/m3 of benzene for high dose group. The general condition of pregnant mice,number of newborns as well as 24-hour survival of newborns were recorded. The body weight of newborns along with liver weight were also recorded to calculate liver coefficient. Total RNA was extracted from liver to detect the expression of cell cycle regulatory genes,Cdk2, CyclinE,Cdk7,CyclinH,by RT-PCR. RESULTSThe average weight of pregnant mice in high dose group was lower than the remaining groups (P<0.05) while the number of abortion was higher (P<0.05). In addition,the number of newborns and 24-hour survival of newborns in the high dose group were also lower than other dose groups,and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05).The expression of Cdk2 in the medium and high dose groups were stronger than that in control group and low dose group. Besides,the expression of CyclinE in high dose groups was stronger than any other groups. The difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The expressions of Cdk7 and CyclinH were not statistically significant (P>0.05) among the groups. CONCLUSION:Exposure of pregnant mice to formaldehyde and benzene after implantation could lead to abortion,the reduction of newborns and their survival. It could also cause hepatocyte cell cycle regulation abnormalities in newborn mice

Key words: benzene, formaldehyde, cell cycle, embryo, development