Effect of Prenatal Exposure to Lead on Estrogen Action in the Prepubertal Rat Uterus
Figure 1
Comparison of the effects of prenatal exposure to lead and chronic exposure to lead on estrogen-induced uterine eosinophilia measured in the endometrium. Prenatally exposed rats were subjected to s.c. injection of their pregnant mothers with a lead acetate (P) or saline physiological solution at their 14th day of pregnancy. From birth on, the pups were breastfed by their mothers. At the age of 21 days the animals were treated with estradiol-17β (E) or vehicle (V). The uteri were obtained 6 h after hormone or vehicle administration. Previously reported data from chronically exposed rats are shown for comparison purposes (see [14]). Bars indicate means (expressed as percentage of maximal response to estradiol) ± standard error of the mean. Statistics: LSD test. ** or ++, ; *** or +++, ; *, comparisons to the homologous condition without estrogen; +, comparisons to the homologous condition without lead.
