Reproductive toxicity in rats with crystal nephropathy following high doses of oral melamine or cyanuric acid.
The industrial chemical melamine was used in 2007 and 2008 to raise the apparent protein content in pet feed and watered down milk, respectively. Because humans may be exposed to melamine via several different routes into the human diet as well as deliberate contamination, this study was designed to characterize the effect of high dose melamine or cyanuric acid oral exposure on the pregnant animal and developing fetus, including placental transfer. Clear rectangular crystals formed following a single triazine exposure which is a different morphology from the golden spherulites caused by combined exposure or the calculi formed when melamine combines with endogenous uric acid. Crystal nephropathy, regardless of cause, induces renal failure which in turn has reproductive sequelae. Specifically, melamine alone-treated dams had increased numbers of early and late fetal deaths compared to controls or cyanuric acid-treated dams. As melamine was found in the amniotic fluid, this study confirms transfer of melamine from mammalian mother to fetus and our study provides evidence that cyanuric acid also appears in the amniotic fluid if mothers are exposed to high doses.
['Stine|Cynthia B|CB|', 'Reimschuessel|Renate|R|', 'Keltner|Zachary|Z|', 'Nochetto|Cristina B|CB|', 'Black|Thomas|T|', 'Olejnik|Nicholas|N|', 'Scott|Michael|M|', 'Bandele|Omari|O|', 'Nemser|Sarah M|SM|', 'Tkachenko|Andriy|A|', 'Evans|Eric R|ER|', 'Crosby|Tina C|TC|', 'Ceric|Olgica|O|', 'Ferguson|Martine|M|', 'Yakes|Betsy J|BJ|', 'Sprando|Robert|R|']
D000284:Administration, Oral D000821:Animal Feed D000818:Animals D001806:Blood Urea Nitrogen D001835:Body Weight D003404:Creatinine D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug D005260:Female D005506:Food Contamination D008297:Male D018811:Maternal Exposure D009929:Organ Size D051381:Rats D051437:Renal Insufficiency D012098:Reproduction D018675:Toxicity Tests D014227:Triazines
Reproductive toxicity Rats Melamine Cyanuric acid