Perinatal exposure to daily dose of the UV filter Benzophenone 3 (BP3) decreases fertility in C57BL/6 Mice

GALLEANI, VALENTINA; ABUD, JULIÁN E.; ZENCLUSSEN, MARÍA LAURA; RODRIGUEZ, HORACIO A.

Mar del Plata

Congreso; Reunión Anual de Sociedades de Biociencias 2022: SAIC, SAI, SAFIS & FAIC; 2022

SAIC - SAFIS - SAI - FAIC

Benzophenone-3 (BP3) is an ultraviolet (UV) blocking agent widely used in the composition of sunscreens. Previously, we have observed that prenatal exposure to BP3 provoked fetal growth restriction (FGR) and altered sex ratio in the mice progeny. Now, our aim was to identify the effects on reproductive physiology of the offspring caused by perinatal exposure to BP3. To do this, C57BL/6 pregnant mice were dermally exposed to 50 mg BP3/kg bw.day or olive oil (vehicle) from gestation day 9 (gd9) to postnatal day 21 (PND21). We recorded the weight of the dams during gestation and lactation, and of the offspring from PND0 to PND21, as well as the date of vaginal opening, gestation duration, pups per mother, estrous cycle duration and sex ratio. We observed no differences in mother’s weights, duration of gestation, number of pups per mother, onset of puberty or sex ratio. The weights of the pups exposed to BP3 were transiently lower than those of the control. Estrous cycle was not affected by perinatal exposure to BP3. Besides, we performed a forced-breeding protocol: at 10 weeks of age, one F1 female and one F1 male mouse from each group was randomly chosen from each litter and housed together for a period of 6 months. The cumulative number of live pups delivered, time to first litter, number of deliveries (fertility) per dam, number of neonates per litter (fecundity), and number of mice having litters were recorded. We observed a decrease of pups/mother and deliveries/mother of dams perinatally exposed to BP3. To see if this decreased fertility could be associated to an early onset of oocytes depletion, we estimated the ovarian reserve of germ cells. We found no differences in total number of oocytes between control and BP3. We conclude that perinatal exposure to BP3 leads to a decline in the reproductive capacity of female mice in a forced-breeding protocol not linked to oocyte depletion. This decline of fertility could be proposed as a lasting effect of perinatal exposure to BP3.