Data demonstrating distinct embryonic developmental defects induced by bisphenol a alternatives.

Embryos of Xenopus laevis (African clawed frog) were exposed to the widespread environmental plasticizers bisphenol AF (BPAF; 0.003-3 µM), bisphenol A (BPA; 1-50 µM), or 17ß-estradiol (E2; 10 µM) from just after fertilization through 96 hours of development. The potencies and cellular and morphological effects were compared across chemical treatments and controls. The embryos were staged, counted and imaged, and time-lapse movies collected, on an inverted stereomicroscope and camera. The data show there were both shared and unique effects of BPAF, BPA, and E2, on early cleavage divisions and development of the spinal cord, head, and gut, with BPAF having the greatest potency and toxicity (1000 times more potent than BPA). Specifically, cleavage divisions, within 1-6 hours of exposure had severe irregularities including asymmetrical division, slowed mitosis and cytokinesis, cellular dissociation, and fewer numbers of cells per embryo. By 48 hours of exposure the embryos had curved body axis defects, neural tube defects including curved, incomplete, or two neural tubes, ventral and gut blisters, and overall extreme abnormalities. By 96 hours of exposure estradiol caused tail flexures/bent spines, severe pigmentation reduction, long loosely coiled gut, and a ventral blister in 100% of embryos. BPA caused truncated body axis defects, tail flexures, and head and eye malformations in over 60% of embryos. BPAF, at the lowest doses tested, caused craniofacial defects, shorter tails, ventral blisters, edema and peritoneal effusion in over 75% of the surviving embryos. For a complete description, interpretation of the data and a discussion refer to the article in press Arancio et al., 2018.

Bisphenol A, Bisphenol AF, di-n-butyl phthalate, and 17ß-estradiol have shared and unique dose-dependent effects on early embryo cleavage divisions and development in Xenopus laevis.

Bisphenol A (BPA), Bisphenol AF (BPAF), and di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP) are widespread compounds used in the production of plastics. We used Xenopus laevis to compare their effects on early embryo cell division and development. Directly after in vitro fertilizations, embryos were exposed to BPA, BPAF, DBP, or 17ß-estradiol (E2) for up to 96 h. BPA (1-50 µM) and BPAF (0.003-25 µM) caused disrupted cleavage divisions, slowed cytokinesis, and cellular dissociation within 1-6 h. Flexures of the spinal cord, shorter body axis/tail, craniofacial malformations, and significant mortality occurred with environmentally relevant doses of BPAF (LC50 = 0.013 µM). DBP (10-200 µM) showed similar effects, but with severe ventral edema. There were both shared and unique effects of all compounds, with BPAF having the greatest potency and toxicity (BPAF > BPA > estradiol > DBP). These findings underscore the pleiotropic effects of widespread toxicants on early development and highlight the need for better toxicological characterization.