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Neurological Toxicity of Individual and Mixtures of Low Dose Arsenic, Mono and Di (n-butyl) Phthalates on Sub-Chronic Exposure to Mice

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Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the toxicity of individual and mixtures of di(n-butyl) phthalates (DBP) and their active metabolite monobutyl phthalate (MBP) and arsenic (As) on spatial cognition associated with hippocampal apoptosis in mice. Mice were exposed, individually or in combination, to DBP (50 mg/kg body weight, intragastrically), MBP (50 mg/kg body weight, intragastrically), and As (10 mg/L, per os) for 8 weeks. The Morris water maze test showed that mice exposed to DBP/MBP combined with As exhibited longer escape latencies and the lower average number of crossing the platform. The As content in the hippocampus after As exposure increased as compared to those without As exposure. In mice exposed to DBP/MBP combined with As, pathological alterations and oxidative damage to the hippocampus were found. Expression of apoptosis-related protein: Bax and caspase-3 were significantly increased in the hippocampus, while there was no significant change in expression of Bcl-2. The results suggested that DBP and MBP combined with As can induce spatial cognitive deficits through altering the expression of apoptosis-related protein and As played a critical role in cognition impairments. And the joint exposure has antagonistic effect.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported financially by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, Collaborative Innovation Center of Technology and Material of Water Treatment, Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Chinese Universities from the Ministry of Education (20113227110020).

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. School of the Environment and Safety Engineering, Jiangsu University, 301 Xuefu Rd., 212013, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, China

      Guanghua Mao, Yao Chen, Samuel Jerry Cobbina, Zhen Zhang, Hai Xu & Liuqing Yang

    2. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University, 301 Xuefu Rd., 212013, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, China

      Zhaoxiang Zhou, Xueshan Wu, Jing Huang & Xiangyang Wu

    3. School of Food and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University, 301 Xuefu Rd., 212013, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, China

      Wei Wang & Weiwei Feng

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    Guanghua Mao and Zhaoxiang Zhou co-first authors.

    Guanghua Mao and Zhaoxiang Zhou contributed equally to this work.

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    Mao, G., Zhou, Z., Chen, Y. et al. Neurological Toxicity of Individual and Mixtures of Low Dose Arsenic, Mono and Di (n-butyl) Phthalates on Sub-Chronic Exposure to Mice. Biol Trace Elem Res 170, 183–193 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-015-0457-6

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