Transcriptional Profiling of Maternal and Fetal Organs following Rat In Utero TCDD or TCDF Exposure

We report the RNAseq-based transcriptome profiles of rat gestation day 20 dam liver, fetal male and female liver, fetal male pituitary, and fetal testis following in utero exposure to either 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) or 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzofuran (TCDF). Two exposure models were examined: 1) pregnant rats exposed to either a dose response series of TCDD or TCDF from gestation day 6 - 20 or 2) pregnant rats exposed to a single dose of TCDD or TCDF on gestation day 15. These data support a mode-of-action for dioxin-induced rat male reproductive toxicity involving key events in both the fetal pituitary (reduced gonadotropin production) and fetal testis (reduced Leydig cell cholesterologenesis and steroidogenesis) which are hypothesized to decrease perinatal Sertoli cell proliferation and culminate in reduced spermatogenesis. The lack of a TCDF effect on proposed key events may be due to a higher rate of metabolic clearance relative to TCDD. Rat dam liver, fetal liver, fetal pituitary, and fetal testis RNAseq profiles following in utero exposure to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin or 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzofuran.