GESTATIONAL EXPOSURE TO LOUD NOISE ALTERS THE DEVELOPMENT AND POSTNATAL RESPONSIVENESS OF HUMORAL AND CELLULAR-COMPONENTS OF THE IMMUNE-SYSTEM IN OFFSPRING

Gestational exposure of the female to environmental toxins can alter i mmune function in the offspring. We have recently shown that prenatal maternal stress, that is, stress applied to or induced in the female d uring pregnancy, can also alter the development of humoral immunocompe tence in the offspring and their hormonal. and immunologic responses t o postnatal stress. This report presents data from two experiments on the effects of prenatal exposure to loud noise-prenatal sound stress ( PSS)-on the development and responsiveness of in vitro and in vivo hum oral and cellular immune function in the offspring. Pregnant rats were exposed daily from Day 15 to Day 21 of gestation to an inescapable lo ud noise (an 85- to 90-decibel fire alarm bell) delivered randomly for 1 hr. In developing offspring, PSS produced age-dependent and mitogen -specific alterations in lymphoproliferative activity and reduced immu noglobulin G levels at Postnatal Day 21. Antibody titers to herpes sim plex virus type I were also reduced. Exposure to loud noise before or after infection produced an additional reduction in titers in these of fspring. Arthus skin reaction (AR) to old tuberculin was reduced by PS S. Combined prenatal/postnatal sound stress further reduced this respo nse and the AR to bovine serum albumin (BSA). Delayed hypersensitivity reaction to BSA was reduced in PSS offspring; postnatal sound stress enhanced the reaction to both antigens, but only in males. Antibody ti ters to BSA were increased by PSS; adjuvant-induced inflammation was a ttenuated by postnatal sound stress. These data suggest that in utero exposure to loud noise, which can occur in the workplace, is toxic to the developing immune system. (C) 1997 Academic Press.