Am J Perinatol 2018; 35(S 01): S1-S26
DOI: 10.1055/s-0038-1647086
Abstracts
Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Effect of Perinatal Exposure to DI-(2-Ethylhexyl) Phthalate on Gut Development in the Neonate Rat

K. Setti Ahmed
1   Department of Biology, Faculty of NLS, University of Mascara, Mascara, Algeria
,
O. Kharoubi
2   Department of Biology, Faculty of LNS, Laboratory of BTE-BD-PR Oran, University of Oran, Oran, Algeria
,
A. E. K. Aoues
2   Department of Biology, Faculty of LNS, Laboratory of BTE-BD-PR Oran, University of Oran, Oran, Algeria
,
M. Bouchekara
1   Department of Biology, Faculty of NLS, University of Mascara, Mascara, Algeria
,
B. Khaladi
3   Department of Anathomopatology, Meslem Tayeb Hospital, Mascara, Algeria
,
M. Taleb
1   Department of Biology, Faculty of NLS, University of Mascara, Mascara, Algeria
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
27 April 2018 (online)

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Introduction: Preterm neonates are frequently exposed to numerous medical devices in neonatal intensive care units (NICU). Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) is a major plasticizer for medical products such as blood and total parenteral nutrition bags, feeding tubes, umbilical catheters, peripherally inserted central catheters, oxygen masks, and endotracheal tubes. It is speculated that premature neonates in NICUs can be exposed to DEHP levels leaching from medical devices up to 100 times above the limit values.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate in an animal model (neonatal rat) the effect on intestinal maturation of maternal exposure to di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate during gestation and lactation.

Materials and Methods: Pregnant female Wistar rats were treated by gavage daily from gestational day 8 to postnatal day 30 with vehicle (1 mL/kg) or 380 mg DEHP kg/birth weight/d. At different ages after birth, rat pups were killed, the small intestinal tissues were collected for histological and biochemical analyses, and the mitotic index was evaluated based on the expression of Ki-67 antigen.

Results: Exposure of dams to DEHP induced decreases in food consumption and body weight (p ˂ 0.01). In rat pups, gestational and lactational exposure to DEHP resulted in decrease in relative organ weight of brain, liver, kidney, and intestine (p ˂ 0.01), it also caused lymphoepithelial lesion in the ileum. Additionally, a significant decrease of the Ki-67 proliferation index was observed in in the youngest rats (p ˂ 0.05). Disaccharidases activities were significantly increased by the treatment.

Conclusion: Our results showed that neonatal exposure to DEHP may significantly affect the intestinal development and related function.

Keywords: DEHP, intestine, disaccharidase, rat, neonatal period