Changes in Liver Antioxidant Status of Offspring Mice Induced by Maternal Fluoride Exposure During Gestation and Lactation

Excessive fluoride intake for a long time has been demonstrated to provoke hepatic oxidative stress in adults. However, the response to fluoride toxicity of liver in newborns exposed to fluoride during embryonic and suckling stages remains unclear. In this study, female Kunming mice were administrated with 25, 50, and 100 mg/L sodium fluoride (NaF) from prenatal day 0 to day 21 after delivery, and the antioxidative status in the liver of their pups at postnatal day 21 was evaluated. The results showed that compared with the control group, NaF significantly increased malondialdehyde (MDA) level and reduced catalase (CAT) activity, while no statistical difference was observed in activities and mRNA expressions of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and glutathione reductase (GR). Notably, with comparison to the controls, the protein level of CAT was significantly reduced in medium- and high-fluoride groups, while its relative mRNA abundance was enhanced which could result from the encouragement of the lowered CAT protein expression. These findings suggested that CAT was more susceptible to low-fluoride exposure in early life.