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Glial cells play a significant role in maintaining brain homeostasis and normal brain development, and their functions can be impaired by exposure to endocrine disruptors. 4-n-Nonylphenol (NP), a representative endocrine disruptor, is widely used in personal care products and industrial materials. NP accumulates in various organs, including the brain, of living organisms and adversely influences brain health. However, studies on the effects of NP on glial cells are limited. This study aims to investigate the effects of NP on glial cells using primary mixed glial cells and offspring mice exposed to NP during gestation and lactation. In vitro experiments revealed that NP exposure stimulated the astrocytes and microglia proliferation but not oligodendrocytes. NP exposure activated microglia and reduced myelin protein expression in oligodendrocytes. Moreover, maternal NP exposure increased the numbers of microglia and oligodendrocytes in the cerebral cortex of adult offspring. NP exposure caused anxiety– and depressive-like behaviors in adult mice. Collectively, these findings suggest that maternal NP exposure negatively affects the brain development in adult offspring mice.

ABSTRACTBisphenol A (BPA) is a representative endocrine-disrupting chemical that exhibits hormonal disturbance reactions. Various alternatives, such as Bisphenol S (BPS) and Bisphenol F (BPF), are being developed. BPS and BPF (which are representative alternatives to BPA) are used in consumer products such as polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. They have structures similar to those of BPA and have also been proven to be exogenous endocrine disruptors. However, although there are many studies on BPA, there are few studies on the neurodevelopmental effects of BPS and BPF. Therefore, in this study, we analyzed neurobehavioral changes in offspring mice exposed to BPS and BPF during brain development by administering BPS and BPF to pregnant mice. We found that prenatal exposure to BPS and BPF did not affect anxiety-and depression-like behaviors, locomotion, sociability, memory, or cognition functions in offspring mice. However, exposure to BPS and BPF decreased the preference for social novelty in the offspring mice. Taken together, these findings suggest that perinatal exposure to BPS and BPF affects changes in social behaviors, but not other behavioral changes such as emotion, memory, or cognition in the offspring mice.