Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation

 

Development of progeny of mice given DDT or parathion during gestation Public Deposited

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https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/6395w950k

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  • Attempts were made to study the effect of parathion and DDT on the postnatal development of mice. Parathion, DDT or corn oil (control) was administered to gravid mice during the first, second, and third trimesters of pregnancy. Thus, nine groups of offspring were obtained. Four different techniques, Audiogenic Seizure, Conditioned Avoidance Response, Open Field, and Electroshock Seizure threshold were used to study the effect of the insecticides on the offspring at different ages, 16 to 30, 30 to 36, 60 to 66, and over 70 days of age, respectively. The offspring of gravid mice given parathion or DDT exhibited high incidence of sound induced seizures on 20 days of age, whereas the offspring from the corn oil treated mothers showed high incidence on 18 days of age. Therefore, the insecticides delayed the maturation of the nervous system by two days. Similar results were obtained in the groups of offspring of pregnant mice given parathion or DDT during the first, second, and third trimesters. Hence, these insecticides affected the maturation of the nervous system regardless of the stage of pregnancy at which administered. The high incidence of seizures in all of the groups of offspring had passed by 28 days of age. The insecticides did not influence the percent incidence after 20 days of age. There were no differences between the parathion and corn oil groups on the acquisition of a Conditioned Avoidance Response, Open Field behavior and Electroshock Seizure threshold. This may indicate that prenatal parathion, regardless of the trimester of administration, had lost its influence on the nervous system of the offspring by the time they were 30 days of age. The offspring of mice given DDT during the second or third trimester were slower to acquire a Conditioned Avoidance Response than the offspring of mice given only corn oil. All the groups of offspring (60 - 66 days old) of mothers given DDT or corn oil during the first, second or third trimester exhibited similar behavior in the Open Field. The Electroshock Seizure thresholds for all of the groups of offspring (over 70 days old) were essentially the same. This may indicate that the influence of DDT on the nervous system had disappeared by the time the offspring were two months old. There were no differences in litter size between all nine groups of offspring. Abortion at full term occurred in two pregnancies of the group of gravid mice given DDT during the third trimester. This may indicate that the insecticides influence the prenatal as well as the postnatal development of the offspring. The weight gain of all of the groups of offspring from parathion or DDT treated mothers was less than that of the groups from corn oil treated mothers. By 60 days of age, the average body weight, and the general appearance of the mice of all groups were similar.
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