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Oxidative stress and renal toxicity after subacute exposure to decabrominated diphenyl ether in Wistar rats

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Abstract

Fully brominated diphenyl ether (BDE-209) is a flame retardant widely used in plastics and textiles. Because of its high persistence, humans are exposed to it continuously, mainly via dust ingestion. We investigated effects of BDE-209 on renal function and oxidative stress development in the kidney after subacute exposure in rats. Five groups of animals were given by oral gavage 31.25–500 mg BDE-209/kg b.w./day for 28 days, and relative kidney weight, serum urea and creatinine, and oxidative stress parameters in the kidney were determined. Benchmark-dose approach was used for dose response modeling. Serum creatinine was increased, while results obtained for serum urea were inconclusive. Relative kidney weight was not affected by BDE-209. Kidney reduced glutathione was elevated, while superoxide dismutase activity was not changed after BDE-209 treatment. Also, levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) were increased and total -SH groups were decreased, which indicated oxidative imbalance. The critical effect dose (CED)/CEDL ratios for the effects on TBARS and total -SH groups indicated estimated CEDs for these markers can be used in risk assessment of BDE-209. Our study results have shown that a relatively low dose of BDE-209 affects kidney function and that oxidative stress is one of the mechanisms of its nephrotoxicity.

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Acknowledgments

Study was partly supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Republic of Serbia (Project III 46009).

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Correspondence to Vesna Milovanovic.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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This research on animals is done as a part of national integrated interdisciplinary research project III 46009 “Improving and developing hygienic and technological procedures in producing food of animal origin aimed at obtaining good quality and safe products competitive on the global market” which is reviewed and approved by National Ethical Advisory Board for the protection of experimental animals welfare, Serbia.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Milovanovic, V., Buha, A., Matovic, V. et al. Oxidative stress and renal toxicity after subacute exposure to decabrominated diphenyl ether in Wistar rats. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 7223–7230 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5921-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5921-5

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