two-generational reproductive toxicity study of zinc in rats

• Published in: Journal of environmental science and health. Part B, Pesticides, food contaminants, and agricultural wastes Vol. 42; no. 4; pp. 403 - 415
• Main Authors: Khan, A.T, Graham, T.C, Ogden, L, Ali, S, Salwa, Thompson, S.J, Shireen, K.F, Mahboob, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia, PA Taylor & Francis Group 01-05-2007; Taylor & Francis
• Subjects: animal organs; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Birth control; Birth Weight - drug effects; body weight; Body Weight - drug effects; Body Weight - physiology; chlorides; Chlorides - toxicity; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; feed conversion; Female; fertility; Fertility - drug effects; Fertility - physiology; Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics; histopathology; laboratory animals; Litter Size - drug effects; Male; Medical sciences; mortality; Organ Size - drug effects; Organ Specificity; pollutants; Pregnancy; pup viability; Random Allocation; Rats; Rats - physiology; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; reproduction; Reproduction - drug effects; Reproduction - physiology; reproductive toxicology; Sex Factors; Sterility. Assisted procreation; Survival Analysis; toxicity testing; Toxicity Tests; zinc; zinc chloride; Zinc Compounds - toxicity; Reproduction diseases; Ecotoxicology; Rat; Toxicity; Rodentia; Multigeneration study; Rats; Sterility; Zinc; Heavy metal; Progeny; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Fertility; Animal; pup viability; Viability; reproduction
• ISSN: 0360-1234; 1532-4109
• DOI: 10.1080/03601230701312795

A two-generation reproductive toxicity study of zinc chloride (ZnCl
2
) was conducted in rats. F
o
male and female rats were administered 0.00 (control), 7.50 (low), 15.00 (mid) and 30.00 (high) mg/kg/day of ZnCl
2
. Selected F
1
male and female rats were exposed to the same doses received by their parents (F
o
). Exposure of F
0
parental rats to ZnCl
2
showed significant reduction in fertility, viability (days 0 and 4), and the body weight of F
1
pups from the high-dose group but caused no effects on litter size, weaning index, and sex ratio. Similarly, the continued exposure of F
1
parental rats to ZnCl
2
also reduced fertility, liter size, viability (day 0), and the body weight of F
2
pups within the high-dose group but caused no effects on weaning index and sex ratio. Exposure of ZnCl
2
to F
0
and F
1
parental males resulted in a significant reduction in their body weights, and the F
0
and F
1
parental females did not show any significant difference in their body weights compared to their control groups. However, the postpartum dam weights of both F
0
and F
1
female rats were significantly reduced compared to their controls. Exposure of ZnCl
2
to F
o
and F
1
generation parental rats did not produce any significant change of their clinical signs as well as their clinical pathology parameters, except the alkaline phosphotase (ALK) level, which showed an upward trend in both sexes of both generations. Exposure of ZnCl
2
to F
0
rats resulted in a reduction of brain, liver, kidney, spleen and seminal vesicles weights of males and in the spleen and uterus of females. Similarly, exposure of F
1
rats to ZnCl
2
also resulted in reduction of brain, liver, kidney, adrenal, spleen, prostate and seminal vesicles weights of males and in spleen and uterus of females. ZnCl
2
exposure resulted in grossly observed gastro-intestianla (GI) tract, lymphoreticular/hematopoietic, and reproductive tract lesions in parental rats in both generations. Reduced body fat was also recorded in F
1
parental rats.