Morphogenesis of the Spleen during the Neonatal Period in Rats Exposed to the Endocrine Disruptor DDT

Morphogenesis of the spleen during the neonatal period in rats exposed in prenatal and postnatal development to low doses of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), a persistent universal pollutant with endocrine disrupting properties, was studied. More intensive formation of periarterial lymphoid sheaths and marginal zone and a simultaneously decreased rate of B-cell differentiation in the spleen were revealed. A higher content of differentiating T-cells and a lower number of cytotoxic T-lymphocytes by the end of the first week of life indicates a decrease in the differentiation of the latter. A lower content of neutrophils in the marginal zone also indicates a delay in the rate of functional development of lymphoid tissue, as opposed to morphological, in rats developing under exposure to low doses of DDT.