Teratogenic Effects of Organohalogen Contaminants Extracted from Whale Bacon in a Whole-Rat-Embryo Culture System

Masaharu Akita (), Osamu Kimura, Kazutaka Atobe, Tetsuya Endo, Shizuo Yamada, Koichi Haraguchi and Yoshihisa Kato ()
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Masaharu Akita: Faculty of Family and Consumer Sciences, Kamakura Women’s University, Kamakura 247-8511, Japan
Osamu Kimura: School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Health Science University of Hokkaido, Tobetsu 061-0293, Japan
Kazutaka Atobe: Kagawa School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tokushima Bunri University, Sanuki 769-2193, Japan
Tetsuya Endo: School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Health Science University of Hokkaido, Tobetsu 061-0293, Japan
Shizuo Yamada: Center for Pharma-Food Research (CPFR), Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Shizuoka, Shizuoka 422-8526, Japan
Koichi Haraguchi: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Daiichi University of Pharmacy, Fukuoka 815-8511, Japan
Yoshihisa Kato: Kagawa School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tokushima Bunri University, Sanuki 769-2193, Japan

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 19, 1-8

Abstract: Marine foods can be contaminated with organochlorines and the risk to human beings who consume these foods needs to be evaluated. We examined the teratogenic effects of contaminants extracted from whale bacon on rat embryos using a whole-embryo culture system. Embryonic day 11.5 embryos were cultured for 48 h with organohalogens extracted from whale bacon at low (polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs): 0.32 ppm, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs): 0.16 ppm, chlordanes (CHLs): 0.02 ppm) and high (PCBs: 2.15 ppm, DDTs: 1.99 ppm, CHLs: 0.20 ppm) doses. The levels of organohalogen compounds in cultured embryos were determined. The organochlorine contaminants extracted from whale products were readily transferred to the cultured rat embryos. The number of heartbeats, yolk sac circulation score, and embryonic body circulation score of embryos did not change during the culture period in either exposure group. Cultured embryos treated with the low-dose contaminated medium for 48 h showed abnormalities of the mandible, and craniofacial or forelimb hematomas with an incidence of 50%. All embryos treated with the high-dose medium showed craniofacial abnormalities and cleft lip, and limb abnormalities and hematomas. These results indicate that the organohalogen contaminants in whale bacon may be teratogenic in a dose-dependent manner. Further studies are necessary to determine the dose–effect relationship.

Keywords: morphological abnormality; polychlorinated biphenyl; rat embryo; whale bacon; whole-embryo culture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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