Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 Sep;99(1):244-53.
doi: 10.1093/toxsci/kfm162. Epub 2007 Jun 14.

Arsenic exposure in pregnant mice disrupts placental vasculogenesis and causes spontaneous abortion

Wenjie He  1 , Robert J Greenwell, Diane M Brooks, Lilian Calderón-Garcidueñas, Howard D Beall, J Douglas Coffin
Affiliations

Arsenic exposure in pregnant mice disrupts placental vasculogenesis and causes spontaneous abortion

Wenjie He et al. Toxicol Sci. 2007 Sep.

Abstract

Arsenic is an abundant toxicant in ground water and soil around areas with extractive industries. Human epidemiological studies have shown that arsenic exposure is linked to developmental defects and miscarriage. The placenta is known to utilize vasculogenesis to develop its circulation. The hypothesis tested here states the following: arsenic exposure causes placental dysmorphogenesis and defective placental vasculogenesis resulting in placental insufficiency and subsequent spontaneous abortion. To test this hypothesis, pregnant mice were exposed to sodium arsenite (AsIII) through drinking water from conception through weanling stages. Neonatal assessment of birth rates, pup weights, and litter sizes in arsenic exposed and control mothers revealed that AsIII-exposed mothers had only 40% the fecundity of controls. Preterm analysis at E12.5 revealed a loss of fecundity at E12.5 from either 20 ppm or greater exposures to AsIII. There was no loss of fecundity at E7.5 suggesting that spontaneous abortion occurs during placentation. Histomorphometry on E12.5 placentae from arsenic-exposed mice revealed placental dysplasia especially in the vasculature. These results suggest that arsenic toxicity is causative for mammalian spontaneous abortion by virtue of aberrant placental vasculogenesis and placental insufficiency.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

MeSH terms

-