Effects of paternal exposure to tertiary cigarette smoke on fetal morphometry and cognition of the offspring and its impact towards pollution

Abstract

Abstract The aim of this study was to determine the effect of paternal exposure to tertiary cigarette smoke on fetal morphometry and cognition of the offspring. This research is an experimental study with a complete randomized design. Twenty adult male mice used and randomly divided into control group and treated group which exposed to tertiary cigarette smoke for 14 days. After the smoking period, each male mated with two adult female mice. One group of female mice sacrificed and dissected to isolate the fetus on the 18th day of gestational. Fetal morphometry observed immediately. Another group of female mice allowed to give birth naturally. Then on the 30th day, novel object recognition (NOR) test performed to assess the cognitive function of the offspring. The results showed that the weight and length of the fetus from the treated group significantly smaller than that of the control group. Furthermore, offspring of the control group showed better performance significantly during NOR test. These results indicated that paternal exposure to cigarette residues affect the fetal development so that the fetus has smaller size and worse offspring cognition.