Abstract
In most communities, there is a constant exposure to environmental pollutants with probable negative impact on the development of the nervous system. Among these pollutants are the sodium fluoride (NaF) and aluminum chloride (AlCl3) which may represent a real threat to the proper functioning of the brain. This study comprises two fundamentally different strategies; in the first one, pregnant rats were administered a daily dose of NaF (0.15g/L) or AlCl3 (500mg/L) in the drinking water either separately or in combination with each other from day 6 of gestation until just after weaning. In the second approach, the male rats born to mothers exposed to the pollutants were divided into two groups. In the first, rats were continued to be treated with the same pollutants administered to them in the drinking water at the same dose level until the age of 70days. The rats of the second group were supplied with drinking water without either one of the pollutants for a similar period of time. The rats exposed to NaF separately or in combination with AlCl3 during the prenatal life and subsequently through the postnatal stages exhibited disturbance in the locomotor activities. This was concomitant with alterations in plasma, PTH, ACTH, and estradiol levels. Additionally, the serum levels of LH and testosterone were altered in the two groups treated with sodium fluoride during the prenatal and up to the weaning periods or in the group which continued to have the NaF until day 70 after birth.