2016 Volume 79 Issue 2 Pages 62-69
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a wellknown environmental endocrine disrupter and is re leased from widely used polycarbonate plastics and some dental sealants. In vitro studies have shown that BPA exerts estrogenic and antiandrogenic effects at the receptor level. Previously,we reported the lowdose effects of BPA on sexually dimorphic behavior in rats. In this study,we focused on the impact of BPA on emotional behavior. With the forced swimming test, there was an increase in the immobility time of BPA rats. It was found that a depressionlike response was clearly enhanced by BPA exposure. In addition, we evaluated the effect of prenatal BPA on the behavioral response to fox odor by using a novel crossform apparatus consisting of four plastic chambers. The odoravoidance response was significant only in the BPA rats. The BPA exposed rats were obviously sensitive to odor. We feel that this susceptibility to predator odor stress may be associated with enhancement of the depressionlike response.
