Bisphenol A (BPA) is a widely used chemical found in many everyday products and throughout the environment, including the water supply. BPA acts as an endocrine disruptor by binding to estrogen and thyroid hormone receptors, potentially leading to reproductive, developmental, and metabolic abnormalities. Xenopus laevis (African Clawed Frogs) provide a suitable model to study BPA effects due to their aquatic habitat and permeable skin, allowing for the absorption of chemical compounds. Our study investigated the effect of long-term, low-dose BPA exposure on the 1) development of Xenopus tadpoles and the 2) physiological status of Xenopus froglets. Xenopus tadpoles were housed from Day 3 post-fertilization in water containing DMSO (vehicle control), 0.15 µM, 1.5 µM, 5.0 µM, or 10 µM concentrations of BPA. For 6 months, the developmental status of Xenopus tadpoles was measured approximately weekly via snout tip to tail length and Nieuwkoop and Faber stage. Animals were housed and handled in accordance with protocols approved by the Benedictine University IACUC. After 6 months of development, the physiological status of Xenopus froglets was measured using two biomarkers: plasma glucose levels, which indicate endocrine-mediated metabolic regulation, and plasma lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity, which indicates cytotoxicity. We hypothesized that higher BPA concentrations would induce more pronounced developmental abnormalities and cytotoxicity in Xenopus tadpoles and froglets, respectively. Blood was collected via cardiac puncture, and plasma was analyzed for glucose levels and LDH activity. Linear mixed models (LMM) were used to test the effect of BPA concentration on plasma glucose levels and LDH activity. Developmental results indicated that Xenopus tadpoles in the 0.15 µM and 1.5 µM BPA groups exhibited accelerated growth compared to other BPA groups and control, both in body length and in progression to NF Stage 66. Physiological results indicated no significant difference in glucose levels among treatment groups (p = 0.08; n≤10). LDH activity was significantly elevated in the 1.5 µM BPA group (p = 0.04; n=9), and a significant positive correlation was observed between LDH activity and snout-vent length (SVL) (r = 0.36, p = 0.023, n≤10), suggesting increased cytotoxicity with size. These findings demonstrate that low-dose BPA exposure can accelerate development and induce measurable cytotoxicity in Xenopus laevis, highlighting the sensitivity of amphibians to environmental endocrine disruptors. Further studies are warranted to examine the long-term physiological and reproductive consequences of chronic BPA exposure. *Research supported by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, R15 DC020315 This abstract was presented at the American Physiology Summit 2026 and is only available in HTML format. There is no downloadable file or PDF version. The Physiology editorial board was not involved in the peer review process.
Jain et al. (Fri,) studied this question.