Prenatal diisononyl phthalate exposure induces the development of pulmonary dysplasia in offspring

As a widely used plasticizer, Diisononyl phthalate (DINP) has been considered an emerging environmental pollutant. Epidemiological evidence shows that prenatal DINP exposure is linked to an increased risk of lung diseases in offspring and adults. However, little is known about their relationship at the molecular level. We exposed pregnant mice to DINP (100 mg/kg/day) by intragastric administration throughout gestation. On postnatal days (PNDs) 21 and 42 offspring were sacrificed and the lungs were collected. We found that prenatal DINP exposure significantly caused hypoalveolarization on PND 21 in male offspring, which was reversed during postnatal development. Moreover, prenatal DINP exposure significantly caused pulmonary fibrosis on PND 42 in male offspring. However, neither of these changes were observed in female offspring. KEGG enrichment showed that differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the lungs of male offspring were closely associated with the calcium signaling and IL-17 signaling pathways. Importantly, decreased Htr4 expression might contribute to hypoalveolarization, and the elevated Il-17a expression might be responsible for prenatal DINP exposure-induced pulmonary fibrosis in male offspring. Our results demonstrated that prenatal DINP exposure had a persistent impact on the lung development of the offspring, including early-stage reduced alveolarization and later-stage fibrosis.