Summary
Objective:
The goal of this study was to test the neurodevelopmental consequences of maternal e-cigarette use on adult offspring behavior and neuroimmune outcomes.
Methods:
Pregnant female CD-1 mice were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups (𝑛=8–10 per group) and exposed daily to either filtered air, propylene glycol and vegetable glycerol (50:50 PG/VG vehicle), or to PG/VG with 16mg/mL nicotine (+Nic). Whole-body exposures were carried out for 3 h/d, 7 d/week, from gestational day (GD)0.5 until GD17.5. Adult male and female offspring (8 weeks old) were assessed across a battery of behavioral assessments followed by region-specific quantification of brain cytokines using multiplex immunoassays.
Results:
Adult offspring of both sexes exposed to +Nic exhibited elevated locomotor activity in the elevated plus maze and altered stress-coping strategies in the forced swim task. Moreover, male and female offspring exposed to PG/VG with and without nicotine had a 5.2% lower object discrimination score in the novel object recognition task. In addition to differences in offspring behavior, maternal e-cigarette exposure with nicotine led to a reduction in interleukin (IL)-4 and interferon-gamma (IFNÎł) in the diencephalon, as well as lower levels of hippocampal IFNÎł (females only). E-cigarette exposure without nicotine resulted in a 2-fold increase of IL-6 in the cerebellum.
Citation
Church JS, Chace-Donahue F, Blum JL, Ratner JR, Zelikoff JT, Schwartzer JJ. Neuroinflammatory and Behavioral Outcomes Measured in adult Offspring of Mice Exposed Prenatally to E-Cigarette aerosols. Environmental health perspectives. 2020;128(4):47006. doi:10.1289/EhP6067
