Early exposure to low doses of atrazine affects behavior in juvenile and adult CD1 mice
Open accessAbstract
Environmental exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals is receiving increasing attention, with particular regard to distinct periods of development where neuroendocrine circuitries are critical for shaping the mammalian brain. Atrazine (ATZ), a widely used herbicide, has been reported to affect steroid hormones and interfere with pathways critical for sex-specific physiological and behavioral development. Aim of the present study was to evaluate effects of perinatal exposure to environmentally relevant subtoxic doses of ATZ, on neurobehavioral development in mice and investigate possible alterations in steroid hormone metabolism. Neurobehavioral development of female and male mice delivered from CD1 dams, and daily exposed from Gestational Day 14 until Postnatal Day 21 (PND 21) to 1 or 100 μg/kg bw ATZ, was investigated. Specifically, locomotor and exploratory activity, social interactions and cognitive performance were evaluated at PND 16, 31 and 60, respectively. Moreover, general toxicity clinical signs, testicular parameters, rate of testosterone metabolism and aromatase activity in F1 male liver were analyzed at adulthood. Changes in exploratory profile and in affiliative/investigative behavior were observed, revealing a feminization of behavioral profile in ATZ-exposed males. Alteration in learning performance at adulthood was also evident. A limited decreased sperm count and concentration, as well as some slight impairment in hepatic testosterone metabolism and in aromatase activity (slightly but not significantly decreased) were observed in both low and high dose exposed animals. In conclusion developmental exposure to non-toxic, environmentally relevant doses of ATZ can produce subtle functional alterations, detectable in juvenile rodents by a detailed behavioral analysis. Behavioral disturbances appeared mainly related with neurodevelopmental disorder affecting the social domain and the emotional/affective repertoire, although further research is needed to elucidate the mechanism through which the effects are induced.
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Exposure to atrazine, PCBs, and chlorpyrifos is associated with perturbations of normal social interactions.
“Exposure to other EDCs such as atrazine (mice: Belloni et al., 2011), PCBs (rats: Jolous-Jamshidi et al., 2010), and chlorpyrifos (mice: Venerosi et al., 2012) are associated with perturbations of normal social interactions.”
From The effects of prenatal PCBs on adult social behavior in rats (2015) · cites this paper as Belloni et al., 2011
The indexed text returned for this DOI is headed “Anti-predator behaviour of the red-legged partridge,” not the cited atrazine study. Its Behaviour section (page unavailable) concerns responses to simulated predators; searches for atrazine and social interactions returned no passage about atrazine-exposed mice. This copy cannot verify the part of the sentence attributed to Belloni et al. (LLM, conf=0.78)
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EDC-2: the endocrine society's second scientific statement on endocrine-disrupting chemicals
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The effects of prenatal PCBs on adult social behavior in rats
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“…Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA c Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA d Section of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA a b s t r a c ta r t i c l e i n f o”
- Authors
- Belloni, V., Dessì-Fulgheri, F., Zaccaroni, M., Di Consiglio, E., De Angelis, G., Testai, E., Santochirico, M., Alleva, E., & Santucci, D.
- Affiliations
- Istituto Superiore di Sanità (IT)
- University of Florence (IT)
- Corresponding author
- Santucci, Daniela
- Venue
- Toxicology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2011-01
- Volume
- 279
- Issue
- 1-3
- Pages
- 19-26
- ISSN
- 0300-483X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1999183005
- Cited by
- 74
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 2.75
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Licence
- Locations
- Toxicology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Florence Research (University of Florence) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Effects and risks of endocrine disrupting chemicals
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Pesticide Exposure and Toxicity
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Sexual Differentiation and Disorders
- Keywords
- atrazine, endocrine disruptors, perinatal exposure, neurobehavioral development, sex differences in behavior, social behavior, exploratory behavior, learning performance, testosterone metabolism, aromatase activity, sperm count, neurodevelopmental disorders, herbicide toxicity, ICR mice
- MeSH terms
- Age Factors, Animals, Atrazine, Behavior, Animal, Cognition, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Environmental Exposure, Exploratory Behavior, Female, Herbicides, Learning, Male, Motor Activity, Pregnancy, Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects, Social Behavior, Testosterone, Time Factors, Mice, Endocrine Disruptors
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