Soraya Ferreira Habr

Prenatal Lipopolysaccharide Exposure Affects Maternal Behavior and Male Offspring Sexual Behavior in Adulthood

Objective: This study investigates the effects of prenatal lipopolysaccharide (LPS) exposure on the maternal behavior of pregnant rats and the physical development and sexual behavior of their male offspring in adulthood. Methods: For two experiments, pregnant rats were injected with LPS (250 μg/kg, i.p.) on gestation day (GD) 21. In the first experiment, the maternal behavior (postnatal day, PND, 6) and the dam’s open-field general activity (PND7) were evaluated. In the second experiment, the maternal pre- and postnatal parameters, the pup’s development, the offspring’s sexual behavior in adulthood, and the pup’s organ weights were assessed. Results: Compared to the control group, the LPS-treated dams presented reduced maternal behavior, decreased general activity, a smaller body weight difference between GD21 and PND1, a greater number of perinatal deaths, and smaller litters. For the male pups, LPS treatment resulted in a decreased body weight on PND2, whereas the anogenital distance and the day of testis descent were not modified. The male sexual behavior was impaired by prenatal LPS. Particularly the number of ejaculating animals was reduced. The testis weight was also lower in the prenatally LPS-treated rats than in the control rats. Conclusion: We propose that prenatal LPS exposure on GD21 acts as an imprinting factor that interferes with the programming of brain sexual determination in offspring.

Misoprostol and teratogenesis in neonates

This paper is focused in some aspects of maternal exposure to misoprostol during perinatal period, and the abortive and teratogenesis effects on the fetus. The causes of malformations were revised, taking into account chemical, physical and environmental factors as well as the interaction between them. There are evidences that the practice of abortion tripled in Southern and Northeastern Brazil in 15 years, and one of the most frequent forms of abortion is through the use of misoprostol. In Brazil, 1991, 288,700 women were hospitalized as a consequence of complications induced by abortion attempt with this medicine. This fact resulted in the ban of misoprostol across our country, by Decree 344/98 determined by the Health Ministry. The use of misoprostol requires special control and it is allowed only in hospitals, with supervision of the municipal health surveillance. Among the more severe problems affecting the non-aborted child is the injury on the central nervous system, which frequently results in the Moebius syndrome. This is a congenital and non-progressive paralysis of the VI and VII cranial nerves, frequently bilateral, which produces a unexpressive facial appearance and convergent Strabismus. Even banned in our country, abortion is illegally practiced, being deprived of proper knowledge about misoprostol teratogenic effects on the fetus as well as the risks involving mothers.