The Effect of Exposure to Perfluorooctanoic Acid During Pregnancy on the Expression of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) in the Newborn Rat Brain

Following exposure to toxic agents, structural and functional changes occur in neurons. These changes can lead to the nervous system dysfunction, such as sensorimotor disorders. In the current study, we investigated how exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid during pregnancy affects the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factors in the brains of newborn rats.

The brains of newborn Wistar rats which divided into five groups include control, sham and three PFOA receiving groups were used. In the PFOA groups, this compound was gavage with a dose of 1, 5 and 10 mg daily. The brains of newborn mice were removed 20 days after birth and the level of neurotrophic factors derived from these samples was evaluated using ELISA and Real Time PCR methods.

The results showed that the mean expression of the BDNF gene significantly increased in the PFOA-receiving groups compared to other groups (P ≤ 0.001). Also, there was a significant increase in BDNF protein expression in the groups that received doses of 5 and 10 mg of PFOA compared to the control and sham groups (P ≤ 0.05).

The results of this study showed that exposure to a natural pollutant such as PFOA can lead to an increase in BDNF expression, and this increase is probably due to the prevention of the destructive effects of PFOA on the development of the nervous system. Therefore, it is recommended to minimize exposure to PFOA-containing sources as much as possible during pregnancy.