DBCP Exposed Rat Testis Transcript Content

Rats were exposed to sub-chronic low doses of the the germ cell toxicant 1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane (DBCP) or corn oil (control for DBCP), for 3 months. Some rats in each group underwent 3 months of post-exposure recovery. The apical endpoints and mating studies used in animal models for reproductive toxicity testing are not practical or translatable for human risk assessment, which typically focus on the analysis of semen and serum hormones. Because of these limitations, effort has been devoted to developing sperm molecular biomarkers that stably reflect male reproductive function. The goals of this work were to 1) identify biomarkers of testis damage within rat sperm after sub-chronic low dose exposures to the germ cell toxicant 1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane [DBCP] for 3 months) using gene array analysis; and 2) compare these biomarkers to traditional endpoints.DBCP-treated rats had decreased body and epididymides weights, which also resolved after recovery, but no altered sperm transcripts.