Oxidative stress response associates with the teratogenic effects of benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP)

Ge Song; Rui Wang; Yi Cui; Chan Juan Hao; Hong-Fei Xia; Xu Ma

doi:10.1093/toxres/tfaa022

Oxidative stress response associates with the teratogenic effects of benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP)

Toxicol Res (Camb). 2020 May 8;9(3):222-229. doi: 10.1093/toxres/tfaa022. eCollection 2020 Jun.

Authors

Ge Song^{1

2}, Rui Wang^{3

1}, Yi Cui^{1

2}, Chan Juan Hao^{1

2}, Hong-Fei Xia^{1

2}, Xu Ma^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Reproductive and Genetic Center of National Research Institute for Family Planning, Beijing, 100081, China.
² Graduate School, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
³ Department of Blood Transfusion, First medical center, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP) is a persistent environmental pollutant. BBP exposure and the possible effects on human neural tube defects (NTDs) remain elusive. In this study, we found that the detection ratio of positive BBP and its metabolites in maternal urine was obviously higher in NTDs' population than that in normal controls by GC-MS (P < 0.01, P < 0.05, respectively). Animal experiments showed that BBP treatment induced developmental toxicity in chick embryo by enhancing the levels of oxidative stress and cell apoptosis (P < 0.01). More interestingly, the supplement of high-dose choline (CHO, 10 ⁵ μg/mL) could partially restore the teratogenic effects of BBP by inhibiting the occurrence of oxidative stress. Our data collectively suggest that BBP exposure may disturb neural tube development by strengthening oxidative stress. CHO can partially restore the toxicity effects of BBP. This study may provide new insight for NTD prevention.

Keywords: BBP; body fluid; chick embryo; human NTDs; oxidative stress.