Late impacts of maternal exposure to bisphenol A during pregnancy and lactation on the histopathology of the prostate of female gerbils

Abstract

The female prostate (Skene's paraurethral gland) is an organ associated with the urogenital system, which is influenced by hormones, such as androgens and estrogens. Several exogenous chemical compounds, i.e. endocrine disruptors, present effects through endocrine pathways that change prostate morpho-physiology. One of these compounds is bisphenol A (BPA), which acts through estrogenic pathways to promote preneoplastic and neoplastic changes in hormone-responsive organs. The Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus) is used as an experimental model for studies related to aging and prostatic lesions, especially in females. The present study aims to evaluate the influence of BPA on the prostate of aged female gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus). For this, female gerbils will be divided into four experimental groups: control group (G1); oil control group (G2); and BPA group (G3) - 50 ¼g/kg per day. In the treated groups, exposure will occur during the gestational and lactational susceptibility windows, and females will be analyzed later during aging (18 months). Analyses of the presence of histopathological lesions of the epithelial compartment will be performed. The expression of the marker phospho-histone H3, for cell proliferation; ±-actin, to evaluate the muscular stroma; and the protein p63, to identify basal cells will be analyzed. These analyses will allow us to present results on late morphological alterations related to proliferation and the appearance of lesions in the female prostate associated with exposure to the endocrine disruptor BPA during pregnancy and lactation.