Вісник проблем біології і медицини (Dec 2020)

FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM OF RAT’S OFFSPRING, BORN BY FEMALES WITH A PREGNANCY COMPLICATED BY «PASSIVE» TOBACCO SMOKING

  • Sergienko L. Yu.,
  • Selyukova N. Yu.,
  • Gevorkyan A. R.,
  • Perets O. V.

DOI
https://doi.org/10.29254/2077-4214-2020-4-158-188-193
Journal volume & issue
no. 4
pp. 188 – 193

Abstract

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In different parts of the world, till 60 % of women use tobacco during pregnancy. However, an even higher percentage (till 80 %) of pregnant women is exposed to so-called «passive» smoking. This term refers to the inhalation of smoke of the burning cigarettes, as well as cigarette toxic products exhaled by the «active» smoker and his clothes, hair and things, by non-smoking persons at home or in open public spaces. It is considered that the «passive» smoking, when a woman is often unable to protect herselve, is the cause of many health risks for both pregnant woman and her child. The given consensus requires further comprehensive research. The present work is devoted to the experimental study of histofunctional features of the reproductive system of female offspring born from mothers, exposed to «passive» smoking during pregnancy. The study was conducted on the 6-month-old female Wistar rats – the first-generation offspring derived from control (intact) rats and from females who were exposed to tobacco smoke in a model of «passive» smoking. The histological changes of the reproductive system organs and the hormonal status of 6-month-old female offspring of mothers who received the products of cigarette combustion through the respiratory tract were studied. Significant degenerative changes in the ovaries and uterus of experimental offspring with a simultaneous decreased levels of female sex hormones and increased level of testosterone in blood plasma were found. The nature of changes in the reproductive system and the levels of sex hormones indicated a premature decrease of fertility in female offspring, that was negatively affected during embryonic development with tobacco products, received by its pregnant mothers passively. Thus, «passive» smoking of females during the gestation period is a factor with a clear negative impact on the reproductive capabilities of their mature female offspring.

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