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. 2020 Jun 23:2020:9132724.
doi: 10.1155/2020/9132724. eCollection 2020.

A Stereological Study of the Toxic Effects of Cerium Oxide during Pregnancy on Kidney Tissues in Neonatal NMRI Mice

Afsaneh Nemati  1 , Vahideh Assadollahi  2 , Ilaria Peluso  3 , Abolfazl Abbaszadeh  4 , Mandana Beigi-Boroujeni  1 , Zahra Khanipur  1 , Mohammadreza Gholami  5
Affiliations

A Stereological Study of the Toxic Effects of Cerium Oxide during Pregnancy on Kidney Tissues in Neonatal NMRI Mice

Afsaneh Nemati et al. Oxid Med Cell Longev. .

Abstract

Background: Both antioxidant and prooxidant activities have been previously reported for cerium oxide (CeO2). The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of CeO2 at different doses on changes in kidney tissues and markers in neonatal mice.

Methods: We randomly divided 30 pregnant NMRI mice into five groups (n = 6 per group)-a control group and four groups treated with intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of different doses of CeO2 (10, 25, 80, or 250 mg/kg body weight (bw)) on gestation days (GD) 7 and GD14. At the end of the treatment period, we analyzed the kidney tissues and serum samples. The levels of two serum redox markers, malondialdehyde (MDA) and ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP), were determined. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey's test, and a P value of <0.05 was considered significant.

Results: The mean total volumes of the renal corpuscle, glomeruli, and Bowman's capsule membranes significantly increased, and there was a significant decrease in the mean total volume of Bowman's space in the high-dose CeO2 group compared to that in the control group. No statistically significant differences existed in the serum levels of MDA and FRAP in the treated and control groups.

Conclusion: Our results suggest that high doses of CeO2 impair fetal renal development in pregnant mice, which results in kidney damage. Therefore, CeO2 administration during pregnancy could have dose-dependent adverse effects on the developing kidneys in neonates.

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Conflict of interest statement

There is no conflict of interest related to this research.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Microscopic images of kidney tissue from 15-day-old mice. The 5 μm sections stained with Heidenhain's Azan show histopathologic changes in the kidney tissue. Magnification: 400x (scale bars =100 μm). Control (a): renal tubules with a regular arrangement of epithelial cells and glomerulus with natural size components and structure (arrow: Bowman's capsule membrane; star: Bowman's capsule space). PT: proximal convoluted tubule; DT: distal convoluted tubule; G: glomerulus in the control group. Cerium oxide (CeO2); 10 mg/kg body weight (bw) (b), CeO2; 25 mg/kg bw (c): renal tubules with a regular arrangement of epithelial cells and glomeruli with natural size components and structure in the groups treated with 10 and 25 mg/kg bw CeO2. CeO2; 80 mg/kg bw (d): histological changes are not significant compared to the control group. CeO2; 250 mg/kg bw (e): vacuolization in the renal tubules, along with disruption, injury, and degeneration in PTs, vascularization in the interstitial kidney tissue, hypertrophy in the glomerulus, and reduced Bowman's capsule space in the 250 mg/kg bw CeO2 treatment group.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison of the mean levels of serum malondialdehyde (MDA; nmol/ml) in the different groups of 15-day-old neonatal mice. Values are means ± SD. The means with different letter codes are significantly different from each other (ANOVA, Tukey's test, P < 0.05).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Comparison of the mean levels of serum total antioxidant capacity (TAC; nmol/ml) in the different groups of 15-day-old neonatal mice. Values are means ± SD. The means with different letter codes are significantly different from each other (ANOVA, Tukey's test, P < 0.05).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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