Developmental exposure to low levels of ethinylestradiol affects social play in juvenile male rats.

Juvenile social play contributes to the development of adult social and emotional skills in humans and non-human animals and is therefore a useful endpoint to study the effects of endocrine disrupters on behavior in animal models. Ethinylestradiol (EE), a widely produced, powerful synthetic estrogen is widespread in the environment mainly because it is a component of the contraceptive pill. To understand whether clinical or environmental exposure to EE during critical perinatal periods can affect male social play, we exposed 72 male Sprague-Dawley rats to EE or vehicle either during gestation (from gestation day (GD) 5 through 20) or during lactation (from postnatal day (PND) 1 through 21).

Developmental Exposure to Low Levels of Ethinylestradiol Affects Play Behavior in Juvenile Female Rats.

Juvenile social play contributes to the development of adult social and emotional skills in humans and non-human animals, and is therefore a useful endpoint to study the effects of endocrine disrupters on behavior in animal models. Ethinylestradiol (EE) is a widely produced, powerful synthetic estrogen that is widespread in the environment mainly because is a component of the contraceptive pill. In addition, fetuses may be exposed to EE2 when pregnancy is undetected during contraceptive treatment.