A single postnatal exposure to the bacterial endotoxin, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), reduces the neuroimmune response to a subsequent LPS exposure in the adult rat. The attenuated fever and proinflammatory response is caused by a paradoxical, amplified, early corticosterone response to LPS. Here we identify the mechanisms underlying the heightened corticosterone response to LPS in adults after ear...

In a related reproductive toxicology study designed to investigate the effects of in utero exposure to environmental toxicants and potential interaction with postnatal genistein, gross enlargement of thoracic mammary glands was observed in female offspring at 200 days of age. Therefore, the objective of this study was to analyze the effect of in utero exposure to a mixture of toxicants on mamma...

Perinatal exposure to Dutch "background" dioxin levels in 1990 was high, but comparable with that of other industrialized Western European countries. Exposure during the sensitive perinatal period may cause permanent disturbances. Therefore, we assessed the health status and various hematologic and immunologic parameters among our longitudinal cohort. A medical history was taken and venipunctur...

BACKGROUND Reproductive behaviors--such as age of childbearing, parity, and breast-feeding prevalence--have changed over the same historical time period as emissions of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and may produce intergenerational differences in human PCB exposure. OBJECTIVES Our goal in this study was to estimate prenatal, postnatal, and lifetime PCB exposures for women at different ages...

Carbon monoxide (CO) exposure at high concentrations results in overt neurotoxicity. Exposure to low CO concentrations occurs commonly yet is usually sub-clinical. Infants are uniquely vulnerable to a variety of toxins, however, the effects of postnatal sub-clinical CO exposure on the developing brain are unknown. Apoptosis occurs normally within the brain during development and is critical for...

This follow-up study investigated the effects of low-level lead exposure during prenatal and early postnatal period on learning and memory in rats immediately after exposure has ceased at weaning and later in their adulthood. Male Wistar-derived rats were exposed to lead (as 0.2 % lead acetate solution) through their mothers during pregnancy and lactation until they were weaned. Mothers of cont...

Recently, ribbon synapses to the hair cells (HCs) in the cochlea have become a novel site of interest in the investigation of noise-induced cochlear lesions in adult rodents (Kujawa and Liberman, 2009; Lin et al., 2011; Liu et al., 2012; Shi et al., 2013). Permanent noise-induced damage to this type of synapse can result in subsequent degeneration of spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs) in the absenc...

The effect of alcohol exposure and hypoxia on the heart rate orienting response and RSA development was studied in preweanling rats. Rats were artificially reared from postnatal days 4 through 12 and either exposed to alcohol (5 g/kg/day) or hypoxia (two 15-min episodes/day) from postnatal days 4 to 10. Control groups consisted of artificially reared and normally reared rats not exposed to alco...

This study aimed at clarifying the impact of long-term prenatal and postnatal exposure to exogenous progesterone on sperm production function, relative sex organs weights, levels relevant hormones in rats. Sixty male Wistar rats were included classified into three groups (n=20 each). A test I group had mature born dams treated with prenatally. II exposed during as well periods, a control placeb...

background: despite the importance of the postnatal consultation, in morocco, only 22% of women attended these consultations. the aim of this study was to identify associated factors with these consultations and offer suggestions to improve their use. methods: this study was conducted in 2014 in marrakech. a sample of women in reproductive age (15-49 yr) giving birth during 2013 year was enroll...