Effects of Gestational and Lactational Exposure to 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-P-Dioxin or Coplanar PCBs on Reproductive Development and Sexually Dimorphic Behaviors in Rats

Abstract

In contrast sexually dimorphic non-reproductive behaviors were affected in TCDD and coplanar PCB exposed rats. In the initial study, the play behavior in TCDD exposed rats was suppressed. However in the follow-up study, when play behavior was tested with a different protocol than in the initial study, the effects were not replicated. The loss of effects could be due to the changes in the testing protocol, or it could be that because the effects on play behavior were marginal in the initial study, they did not appear in the follow-up study. Saccharin preference of the TCDD and coplanar PCBs exposed females was masculinized in both studies. TCDD and PCBs have antiestrogenic effects and masculinization of saccharin preference in females could be due to the antiestrogenic effects of these chemicals in the parabrachial nucleus of female rats.