Impacts of maternal diet and exercise on offspring behavior and body weights.

Human and animal studies indicate that maternal obesity can negatively impact aspects of metabolism and neurodevelopment in the offspring. Not known, however, is whether maternal exercise can alter these adverse outcomes. In this study, Long-Evans female rats were provided a high fat (60%; HFD) or control diet (CD) 44days before mating and throughout gestation and lactation. Running wheels were available to half of each diet group during the gestational period only, resulting in four conditions: CD diet with (CDRW) or without (sedentary; CDSED) exercise, and HFD with (HFRW) or without (HFSED) exercise. Only male offspring (one per litter) were available for this study: they were put on control diet two weeks after weaning and examined using behavioral evaluations up to four months of age. Before weaning, offspring of CDRW dams weighed less than offspring from CDSED or HFD dams. After weaning, the lower weight in CDRW offspring generally persisted. Adult offspring from HFSED dams performed worse than the HFRW group in a Morris water maze during initial spatial training as well as reversal learning; memory was not impacted. No differences between groups were seen in tests of novel object recognition, social approach, or chocolate milk preference. Thus, maternal diet and exercise produced differential effects on body weights and cognitive behaviors in the offspring, and the data demonstrate a positive impact of maternal exercise on the offspring in that it ameliorated some deleterious behavioral effects of a maternal high fat diet.

Evaluation of the immunomodulatory effects of 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoro-2-(heptafluoropropoxy)-propanoate in C57BL/6 mice.

2,3,3,3-tetrafluoro-2-(heptafluoropropoxy)-propanoate was designed to replace perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which has been mostly phased out of U.S. production due to environmental persistence, detectable human and wildlife serum concentrations, and reports of systemic toxicity. In rodent models, PFOA exposure suppresses T cell-dependent antibody responses (TDAR) and vaccine responses in exposed humans. To determine replacement compound effects on TDAR and related parameters, male and female C57BL/6 mice were gavaged with 0, 1, 10, or 100 mg/kg/day for 28 days. Mice immunized with antigen on day 24 were evaluated for TDAR and splenic lymphocyte subpopulations five days later. Serum and urine were collected for test compound concentrations and liver peroxisome proliferation was measured. Relative liver weight at 10 and 100 mg/kg and peroxisome proliferation at 100 mg/kg were increased in both sexes. TDAR was suppressed in females at 100 mg/kg. T lymphocyte numbers were increased in males at 100 mg/kg; B lymphocyte numbers were unchanged in both sexes. Females had less serum accumulation and higher clearance than males, and males had higher urine concentrations than females at all times and doses. While this PFOA-replacement compound appears less potent at suppressing TDAR relative to PFOA, it produces detectable changes in parameters affected by PFOA; further studies are necessary to determine its full immunomodulatory profile and potential synergism with other per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances of environmental concern.

Does developmental exposure to perflurooctanoic acid (PFOA) induce immunopathologies commonly observed in neurodevelopmental disorders?

Immune comorbidities often are reported in subsets of patients with neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorders and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. A common immunopathology is an increase in serum autoantibodies against myelin basic protein (MBP) relative to control patients. Increases in autoantibodies suggest possible deficits in self-tolerance that may contribute to the formation of brain-specific autoantibodies and subsequent effects on the central nervous system (CNS). Oppositely, the formation of neuronal autoantibodies may be a reaction to neuronal injury or damage. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is an environmental pollutant that induces multisystem toxicity in rodent models, including immunotoxicity and neurotoxicity. We hypothesized that developmental exposure to PFOA may induce immunotoxicity similar to that observed in subsets of patients with neurodevelopmental disorders. To test this hypothesis, we evaluated subsets of T cells from spleens, serum markers of autoreactivity, and levels of MBP and T cell infiltration in the cerebella of adult offspring exposed to 0.02, 0.2, or 2mg/kg of PFOA given to dams from gestation through lactation. Litter weights of offspring from dams exposed to 2mg/kg of PFOA were reduced by 32.6%, on average, from postnatal day one (PND1) through weaning (PND21). The percentage of splenic CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ T cells in male and female offspring from dams exposed to 2mg/kg of PFOA was reduced by 22% relative to the control percentage. Ex vivo co-cultures of splenic CD4+CD25+ T cells and CD4+CD25- T cells from dosed male offspring produced less IL-10 relative to control cells. Anti-ssDNA, a serum marker of autoreactivity, was decreased by 26%, on average, in female offspring from dams exposed to 0.02 and 2mg/kg PFOA. No other endpoints were statistically different by dose. These data suggest that developmental PFOA exposure may impact T cell responses and may be a possible route to downstream effects on other systems.