The aim of the first part of the doctoral dissertation was to study toxicokinetic (TK) parameters in a ewe and rams of the Istrian pramenka sheep breed after sequential dietary and/or subcutaneous administration of bisphenol A (BPA). A chemical analysis using high performance liquid chromatography with reversed stationary phase and fluorescence detection was developed and validated for the determination of free and total BPA in sheep’s blood plasma, milk, urine and feces. In an initial pilot study conducted on a lactating ewe with a suckling lamb, a non-compartmental TK analysis was performed for both the dietary and the subcutaneous route. In each case, 100 µg BPA/kg body weight/day was administered, and the free and total BPA in the blood plasma was determined. It was found that the administration route affected the TK parameters of free BPA. After dietary administration, the ewe’s exposure to free BPA was lower and shorter - the area under the blood plasma concentration curve (AUC) was 1.28 µg h/l, compared to subcutaneous administration, where the AUC of free BPA was 33.3 µg h/l. However, the TK profiles of total BPA were very similar. Moreover, with the development of the TK compartmental model, we estimated that the percentage of BPA excreted in milk was less than 0.1% of the received dose, regardless of the route of administration. In the urine of the ewe we also determined very low levels of free BPA and high levels of total BPA, while very low levels of both free and total BPA were also determined in the feces. After a fourfold reduction of the dose, which was administered to the rams, an approximately fourfold reduction of the maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) of total BPA in their blood plasma was also observed.
The second part of the dissertation aimed to investigate the effect of a two-month dietary exposure of BPA to 25 µg/kg of body weight/day on the male reproductive organs of pubescent rams. We found no statistically significant difference between the treatment and control group of rams regarding body weight, testicular weight, frequency or severity of histopathological changes in the testes and epididymis, qualitative characteristics of spermatozoa, concentration of spermatozoa in the epididymis and in the ductus deferens. We also found no statistically significant difference in the diameter and surface area of the seminiferous tubules. The only statistically significant difference was a lower height of the germinal epithelium of the seminiferous tubules in the treated rams compared to the control rams.
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