Developmental alterations in offspring of female rats orally intoxicated by aluminum lactate at different gestation periods

Abstract

Pregnant rats were treated orally with aluminum lactate (400 mg Al/kg/day) during three periods of gestation to determine the treatment's influence on mortality, weight gain, neuromotor maturation, and learning abilities of their pups. No effect of treatment on litter size, mortality rate, and weight gain of pups was detected. In the negative geotaxis test, the scores of pups from females treated during the second and third weeks of gestation were diminished. In the locomotor coordination and the operant conditioning tests, significant differences in the comparison of controls vs. the three treated groups were found, indicating long-term effects of early intoxication upon the central nervous system.