Managing conflicts of interest (COIs) in scientific decision-making is important for minimizing bias and fostering public trust in science. Proper management of COIs has added significance when scientists are making decisions that impact public policy, such as assessing substances for carcinogenicity. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) organizes expert working groups to identify putative carcinogens and determine whether or not the hazard is likely to present significant potential harm to humans. While IARC has policies for managing COIs, prior professional experience with the substance being assessed is not defined as a COI. Indeed, IARC working group members are chosen based on subject matter expertise, including prior publication on the substance under review. However, a person's prior experience with a substance poses a significant potential COI by equipping them with strong pre-existing views about the substance's toxicity and carcinogenicity. To minimize the risk of bias in IARC working groups, participants with voting powers should be independent scientific experts with sufficient professional experience to review carcinogenicity data but with no substantial prior experience with the substance under review. A related IARC practice restricting data review by working groups to selected publications is another significant COI. Instead, all accessible data should be available for consideration by working groups in assessing the carcinogenic hazard of substances. Another recommendation to reduce potential bias would be to reinstate the option of "probably not carcinogenic to humans".
Exposure to alpha-glycosyl isoquercitrin (AGIQ) from gestation to adulthood has been shown to enhance synaptic plasticity in the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG) and facilitate fear memory extinction in rats. Here, we investigated the effect of exposure to 0.5 % AGIQ in the diet from gestational day 6 to postnatal day 77 in rats on excitatory and inhibitory inputs in the DG. AGIQ increased VGLUT2 immunoreactivity in the granule cell layer and PSD95 immunoreactivity in the whole structure. AGIQ also increased VGAT immunoreactivity in all DG laminae as well as the number of hilar GABAergic interneurons expressing NMDAR2D in subpopulations expressing CB1R, parvalbumin or somatostatin. The GABAergic input was dominant to the glutamatergic input. These results suggest that AGIQ increases synaptic densities of both excitatory and inhibitory inputs in the DG. AGIQ may upregulate NMDAR2D in diverse interneuron subpopulations, thereby enhancing structural plasticity in granule cells, which might facilitate fear memory extinction.
Animals models are essential to understand the complex pathobiology of human diseases. George Box’s aphorism based on statistics “All models are wrong, but some are useful” certainly applies to animal models of disease. In this session, the translational relevance of various animal models applicable to human liver disease was explored starting with a historic overview of the rodent cancer bioassay with emphasis on hepatocarcinogenesis from early work at the National Cancer Institute, refinement by the National Toxicology Program and contemporary efforts to identify potential mechanisms and their relevance to human cancer risk. Subsequently, recently elucidated understanding of the molecular drivers and signaling mechanisms of liver pathophysiology and liver cancer, including factors associated with liver regeneration, metabolic hepatocellular zonation, and the role of macrophages and their crosstalk with stellate cells in understanding human liver disease was discussed. Next, our contemporary understanding of the role of nuclear receptors in hepatic homeostasis and drug response highlighting nuclear receptor activation and crosstalk in modulating biological responses associated with liver damage and neoplastic response were discussed. Finally, an overview and translational relevance of different drug-induced liver injury (DILI) rodent model systems focused on pathology and mechanisms with commentary on current relevant Food and Drug Administration (FDA) perspective were summarized with closing remarks.
Toxicologic pathology is a biomedical specialty that integrates the science of toxicology (the study of poisons) and pathology (the study of disease). Both toxicology and pathology are critical components that focus on diagnosis and interpretation of human and animal responses from direct and indirect exposure to xenobiotic (synthesized chemicals) and natural agents. Toxicologic pathology encompasses a broad range of activities in predicting human and animal responses to drugs, chemicals, therapeutic devices, adverse environmental exposures, and includes responses in aquatic organisms. In addition to identifying morphological diagnosis of organ and tissue pathology, toxicologic pathology includes identifying cellular, subcellular, and molecular effects that explain adverse health consequences, and in assessing the effects of various xenobiotic and natural exposures on aging, genetics, nutrition, immune function, reproduction and development, and brain function. The discipline of toxicologic pathology is heavily involved in the discovery, development, and safety assessment of new drugs, pesticides, medical devices, food additives, over-the-counter (OTC) herbal products, and genetically modified (GM) foods with the primary objective of improving human, animal, and environmental health. The practitioner of toxicologic pathology is the trained toxicologic pathologist.
Gardenia blue powder was administered at 0.5%, 2.5%, or 5.0% in feed to male and female Sprague Dawley rats in an Extended One-Generation Reproductive Toxicity Study (OECD Test Guideline 443). The dosed diet began 14 days before mating and was continued at the same concentration level for the entire study for all parental animals (P0) and offspring (F1). At weaning, offspring were allocated into one of 5 cohorts for different endpoints. P0 and F1 animals had blue urine, blue or black feces, and blue discolorations in gastrointestinal organs, mesenteric lymph nodes, and kidneys. This treatment-related finding was not considered adverse as there were no histopathologic correlates. There was a dose-related increase in sperm concentration in P0 and F1 males. There were dose-related increases in heart weights of F1 postnatal day (PND) 21 males, male and female thyroid weights, and female TSH levels of PND 91 F1 offspring, with no histopathological correlate. There were no consistent treatment-related adverse effects on any other parameters evaluated for general toxicity, reproductive toxicity, developmental neurotoxicity, or developmental immunotoxicity. The highest dietary concentration (5.0%) of gardenia blue powder was the no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) for male and female rats at all life stages evaluated.
Toxicity assessment of the food colorant Gardenia jasminoides Ellis at dietary exposures of 0.0%, 0.1%, 0.5%, 1.5%, 3.0% and 5.0% included measures of T-cell- dependent antibody response, neurotoxicity, and clinical and anatomic pathology in Sprague Dawley rats during mating, gestation, lactation, postnatal development, and following weaning for up to 12 months including 3- and 6-month interim evaluations. Blue coloration of the gastrointestinal tract, mesenteric lymph nodes and kidneys was present in treated rats only at necropsy with minimal blue coloration at the lowest dose and without histopathological correlates in any of the tissues. There was good survival with no consistent treatment-related changes in hematology, clinical chemistry, enhanced evaluation of lymphoid tissues, or tissue histopathology at interim and final time points. T-cell dependent antibody response and neurotoxicity screening were negative in treated rats. The no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) was determined to be 5.0% gardenia blue (2,854.5 and 3,465.4 mg/kg/day in parental males and females, respectively, prior to mating; 3,113.5 and 4,049.6 mg/kg/day in male and female offspring, respectively, following up to 12 months of exposure.
Polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (PIC) provides a model of developmental neuropathy by inducing maternal immune activation. We investigated the effects of an antioxidant, alpha-glycosyl isoquercitrin (AGIQ), on PIC-induced developmental neuropathy in rats, focusing on postnatal hippocampal neurogenesis. On gestational day 15, PIC at 4 mg/kg body weight was administered to dams intravenously. AGIQ either at 0.25% or 0.5% was administered through the diet to dams from gestational day 10 until weaning on day 21 post-delivery and, thereafter, to offspring until postnatal day 77 (adult stage). At weaning, the numbers of TBR2+ cells and PCNA+ cells in the subgranular zone and reelin+ cells in the dentate gyrus hilus in offspring of dams treated with PIC only were decreased compared with untreated controls. In contrast, 0.5% AGIQ ameliorated these changes and increased the transcript levels of genes related to signaling of reelin (Reln and Vldlr), growth factors (Bdnf, Cntf, Igf1, and Igf1r), and Wnt/β-catenin (Wnt5a, Lrp6, Fzd1, and Fzd3). In adults, AGIQ increased the number of FOS+ granule cells at 0.25% and the transcript levels of NMDA-type glutamate receptor genes, Grin2a and Grin2b, at 0.25% and 0.5%, respectively. These results suggest that mid-gestation PIC treatment decreased the abundance of type-2b neural progenitor cells (NPCs) by reducing NPC proliferation in relation with suppression of reelin signaling at weaning. We suggest that AGIQ ameliorated the PIC-induced suppressed neurogenesis by enhancing reelin, growth factor, and Wnt/β-catenin signaling at weaning to rescue NPC proliferation and increased synaptic plasticity by enhancing glutamatergic signaling via NMDA-type receptors after maturation.
Introduction Gardenia blue is a colorant widely used in Asia in food and beverages. The objectives of the present studies were to evaluate the maternal and prenatal embryo-fetal developmental toxicity of gardenia blue in rats and rabbits. Methods Sprague Dawley rats and New Zealand White rabbits were administered gardenia blue daily by oral gavage at doses of 0 (deionized water vehicle), 500, 1000 or 2000 mg/kg/day on Gestation Days 6 through 20 (rats) and 7 through 28 (rabbits). Endpoints evaluated included clinical observations, body weight, food consumption, thyroid hormones (rats), thyroid weights and histopathology (rats), gross pathologic changes, ovarian and uterine observations, fetal weight and anogenital distance (rats) and fetal morphology (external, visceral and skeletal). Results Treatment related maternal findings attributed to the blue/dark color of the test substance included body surface staining, and dark/blue discoloration of the kidneys, gastrointestinal track and mesenteric lymph nodes at all or most doses in the rat and/or rabbit. Slight reductions in food consumption without effects on body weight were also observed in rats at all doses and in rabbits at 2000 mg/kg/day. There were no treatment related effects on maintenance of pregnancy, postimplantation loss, litter size, fetal weight and anogenital distance, or fetal external, visceral, or skeletal malformations and variations. Conclusions Based on these results, the maternal and developmental no-observed-adverse-effect level for gardenia blue in rats and rabbits was ≥2000 mg/kg/day.
Introduction Gardenia blue is currently being considered as a naturally derived food colorant for use in the global marketplace. Methods To assess its carcinogenic potential, 100 female and 100 male CByB6F1-Tg (HRAS)2Jic (rasH2) mice were allocated to four dose groups and exposed to gardenia blue in the diet for 26 weeks at dose levels of 0.0% (control), 0.5%, 2.5%, or 5.0% (corresponding to 0.0, 664.8, 3341.0, and 6623.2 mg/kg/day in male mice and 0.0, 1182.7, 5561.1, and 10,440.3 mg/kg/day in female mice, respectively). An additional group of 10 males and 10 females was administered intraperitoneal N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) as a positive control. Clinical observations, body and organ weights, clinical chemistry, hematology, and hormone analyses were performed in addition to urinalysis and histopathology. Results The positive control elicited expected responses specific to rasH2 mice. There were sporadic background non-dose-related findings in clinical pathology parameters and anatomic pathology common to rasH2 mice in the absence of any gardenia blue induced dose-related changes. Discussion Under these study conditions, the no-observed-adverse-effect level was 5% gardenia blue (6623.2 mg/kg/day in male mice and 10,440.3 mg/kg/day in female mice). Conclusions Based on this study a high dietary level of gardenia blue was negative for carcinogenicity in the rasH2 mouse test system.
This study compared the effects of embryonic and neonatal lipopolysaccharides (LPS) exposure (E-LPS and N-LPS) on oligodendrocyte (OL) differentiation in the hippocampus of male rats and explored the protective effect of the antioxidant alpha-glycosyl isoquercitrin (AGIQ). Using SD rats, LPS exposure occurred either intraperitoneally in dams between gestational days 15 and 16 (50 µg/kg body weight/time) or in male pups on postnatal day (PND) 3 (1 mg/kg body weight). Under both regimens, AGIQ at 0.5% (w/w) was supplemented, to dams from the gestation period (before LPS exposure) until weaning on PND 21 and to male offspring from weaning until PND 77 (adulthood). Compared with a control treatment, E-LPS treatment resulted in fewer NG2+ OL progenitor cells (OPCs) and an upregulation of Tcf4 at PND 6; by PND 21, low NG2+ OPC number persisted, but OLIG2+ OL lineage cells increased, while CNPase+ mature OLs counts were unchanged. By contrast, N-LPS treatment resulted in fewer OLIG2+ cells and an upregulation of Bmp4 at PND 6; by PND 21, NG2+ OPCs decreased, while GFAP+ astrocytes increased at both PND 6 and 21. After N-LPS treatment, Kl and Yy1 were downregulated and there were fewer Klotho+ and CNPase+ cells at PND 21. Results suggest that E-LPS treatment facilitates OPC differentiation into pre- and immature OLs until weaning, while N-LPS treatment suppresses OPC differentiation into mature OLs but facilitates astrocyte generation; however, these changes spontaneously recovered by adulthood under both regimens. AGIQ treatment ameliorated the effects of LPS treatment of both regimens, suggesting that LPS-induced disruption of OPC/OL differentiation occurs via neuroinflammation.
alpha-Glycosyl isoquercitrin (AGIQ) is a flavonoid that possesses antioxidant and tumor suppressive capabilities and is marketed as a food additive in Japan. The aim of this study was to assess the potential for oral chronic toxicity and carcinogenicity of AGIQ in male and female Sprague Dawley rats following up to 5.0% dietary exposure. In the chronic toxicity study, rats were exposed to AGIQ or vehicle for one year with a 6-month interim termination point; for the carcinogenicity study, rats were treated for 24 months. No signs of AGIQ-related toxicity clinically or histologically were observed for up to one year except for yellow discoloration of bone. In the carcinogenicity study, a statistically significant increase in the incidence of malignant glioma of the brain or spinal cord was observed in female rats exposed to 5.0% AGIQ compared to those exposed to control feed. A Scientific Advisory Panel of experienced neuropathologists reviewed the gliomas (routine stains and glial cell markers) and concluded that the gliomas were a rare, spontaneous, rat-specific neoplasm: malignant microglial tumor. The lesions could not definitively be attributed to AGIQ exposure and have limited implications with respect to predicting human cancer risk.
In this combined chronic toxicity/carcinogenicity study of gardenia blue as a natural food color additive, Sprague Dawley rats were administered 0.5%, 2.5%, or 5.0% gardenia blue via the feed or carrier diet (0.0% gardenia blue) for 12 (chronic toxicity cohort) or 24 (carcinogenicity cohort) months. No abnormal clinical, ophthalmological, neurotoxicity or clinical pathology changes were attributed to treatment, and there was no increase in mortality due to gardenia blue exposure. The only treatment-related change was grossly observed blue discoloration of the stomach, intestines, and mesenteric lymph nodes as well as reversible dark discoloration of the kidneys all without associated histopathology. The no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) for gardenia blue exposure via the diet for one or two years was determined to be 5.0% (2175.3 mg/kg body weight/day in male rats and 3075.4 mg/kg body weight/day in female rats).
This study investigated the role of neuroinflammation in a lipopolysaccharides (LPS)-induced cognitive dysfunction model in rats using an antioxidant, α-glycosyl isoquercitrin (AGIQ). Six-week-old rats were dietary treated with 0.5% (w/w) AGIQ for 38 days, and LPS at 1 mg/kg body weight was administered intraperitoneally once daily on Days 8 and 10. On Day 11, LPS alone increased or tended to increase interleukin-1β and tumor necrosis factor-α in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex. Immunohistochemically, LPS alone increased the number of Iba1+ and CD68+ microglia, and GFAP+ astrocytes in the hilus of the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG). AGIQ treatment decreased or tended to decrease brain proinflammatory cytokine levels and the number of CD68+ microglia in the DG hilus. In the contextual fear conditioning test during Day 34 and Day 38, LPS alone impaired fear memory acquisition, and AGIQ tended to recover this impairment. On Day 38, LPS alone decreased the number of DCX+ cells in the neurogenic niche, and AGIQ increased the numbers of PCNA+ cells in the subgranular zone and CALB2+ hilar interneurons. Additionally, LPS alone decreased or tended to decrease the number of synaptic plasticity-related FOS+ and COX2+ granule cells and AGIQ recovered them. The results suggest that LPS administration induced acute neuroinflammation and subsequent impairment of fear memory acquisition caused by suppressed synaptic plasticity of newborn granule cells following disruptive neurogenesis. In contrast, AGIQ exhibited anti-inflammatory effects and ameliorated LPS-induced adverse effects. These results suggest that neuroinflammation is a key factor in the development of LPS-induced impairment of fear memory acquisition.
We investigated the effect of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced maternal immune activation used as a model for producing neurodevelopmental disorders on hippocampal neurogenesis and behaviors in rat offspring by exploring the antioxidant effects of alpha-glycosyl isoquercitrin (AGIQ). Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were intraperitoneally injected with LPS (50 μg/kg body weight) at gestational days 15 and 16. AGIQ was administered in the diet to dams at 0.5% (w/w) from gestational day 10 until weaning at postnatal day 21 and then to offspring until adulthood at postnatal day 77. During postnatal life, offspring of LPS-injected animals did not show neuroinflammation or oxidative stress in the brain. At weaning, LPS decreased the numbers of type-2b neural progenitor cells (NPCs) and PCNA+ proliferating cells in the subgranular zone, FOS-expressing granule cells, and GAD67+ hilar interneurons in the dentate gyrus. In adulthood, LPS decreased type-1 neural stem cells, type-2a NPCs, and GAD67+ hilar interneurons, and downregulated Dpysl3, Sst, Fos, Mapk1, Mapk3, Grin2a, Grin2b, Bdnf, and Ntrk2. In adults, LPS suppressed locomotor activity in the open field test and suppressed fear memory acquisition and fear extinction learning in the contextual fear conditioning test. These results indicate that mid-gestation LPS injections disrupt programming of normal neurodevelopment resulting in progressive suppression of hippocampal neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity of newborn granule cells by suppressing GABAergic and glutamatergic neurotransmitter signals and BDNF/TrkB signaling to result in adult-stage behavioral deficits. AGIQ ameliorated most aberrations in hippocampal neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity, as well as behavioral deficits. Effective amelioration by continuous AGIQ treatment starting before LPS injections may reflect both anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative stress effects during gestation and neuroprotective effects of continuous exposure through adulthood.
This study examined the ameliorating effect of alpha-glycosyl isoquercitrin (AGIQ), an antioxidant, on disrupted hippocampal neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus (DG) in a rat model of autism spectrum disorder induced by prenatal valproic acid (VPA) exposure. Dams were intraperitoneally injected with 500 mg/kg VPA on gestational day 12. AGIQ was administered in the diet at 0.25 or 0.5
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is a hepatic disorder with deposition of fat droplets and has a high risk of progression to steatosis-related hepatitis and irreversible hepatic cancer. Metronidazole (MNZ) is an antiprotozoal and antimicrobial agent widely used to treat patients infected with anaerobic bacteria and intestinal parasites; however, MNZ has also been shown to induce liver tumors in rodents. To investigate the effects of MNZ on steatosis-related early-stage hepatocarcinogenesis, male rats treated with N-nitrosodiethylamine following 2/3 hepatectomy at week 3 were received a control basal diet, high fat diet (HFD), or HFD containing 0.5% MNZ. The HFD induced obesity and steatosis in the liver, accompanied by altered expression of Pparg and Fasn, genes related to lipid metabolism. MNZ increased nuclear translocation of lipid metabolism-related transcription factor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma in hepatocytes, together with altered liver expression of lipid metabolism genes (Srebf1, Srebf2, Pnpla2). Furthermore, MNZ significantly increased the number of preneoplastic liver foci, accompanied by DNA double-strand breaks and late-stage autophagy inhibition, as reflected by increased levels of γ-H2AX, LC3, and p62. Therefore, MNZ could induce steatosis-related hepatocarcinogenesis by inducing DNA double-strand breaks and modulating autophagy in HFD-fed rats.
alpha-Glycosyl Isoquercitrin (AGIQ), is used in Japan as a food additive and was granted generally recognized as safe (GRAS) status in 2005 (FEMA) and 2007 (FDA). The safety and toxicity information for AGIQ is sparse and therefore, the carcinogenicity potential of AGIQ was examined in the CByB6F1-Tg(HRAS)2Jic (rasH2) model. One hundred female and male rasH2 mice, each, were allocated to one of four designated dose groups; 0 (control)%, 1.5%, 3.0% or 5.0% AGIQ. Animals were administered the diets for six months and an additional 10 females and 10 males, each, were administered a positive control, N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU). Body weights and clinical observations were collected. A full screen necropsy, organ weights, clinical chemistry, urinalysis and histopathology were performed. The positive control animals elicited appropriate responses specific to this strain (rasH2) of mice. There were statistically significant sporadic non-dose-dependent changes in clinical chemistries without corresponding pathological correlation. No microscopic AGIQ-related findings were noted; the range of pathology observations were all considered background findings, either specific to rasH2 mice or common to inbred strains of mice. Therefore, under the study conditions, the no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) was determined to be more than 5.0% (7215.4 mg/kg BW/day in male mice and 14685.5 mg/kg/day in female mice).
The present study investigated the role of neuroinflammation and brain oxidative stress induced by neonatal treatment with lipopolysaccharides (LPS) on the development of autism spectrum disorder (ASD)-like behaviors and disruptive hippocampal neurogenesis in rats by exploring the chemopreventive effects of alpha-glycosyl isoquercitrin (AGIQ) as an antioxidant. AGIQ was dietary administered to dams at 0.25% or 0.5% (w/w) from gestational day 18 until postnatal day (PND) 21 on weaning and then to pups until the adult stage on PND 77. The pups were intraperitoneally injected with LPS (1 mg/kg body weight) on PND 3. At PND 6, LPS alone increased Iba1+ and CD68+ cell numbers without changing the CD163+ cell number and strongly upregulated pro-inflammatory cytokine gene expression (Il1a, Il1b, Il6, Nfkb1, and Tnf) in the hippocampus, and increased brain malondialdehyde levels. At PND 10, pups decreased ultrasonic vocalization (USV), suggesting the induction of pro-inflammatory responses and oxidative stress to trigger communicative deficits. By contrast, LPS alone upregulated Nfe2l2 expression at PND 6, increased Iba1+, CD68+, and CD163+ cell numbers, and upregulated Tgfb1 at PND 21, suggesting anti-inflammatory responses until the weaning period. However, LPS alone disrupted hippocampal neurogenesis at weaning and suppressed social interaction parameters and rate of freezing time at fear acquisition and extinction during the adolescent stage. On PND 77, neuroinflammatory responses had mostly disappeared; however, disruptive neurogenesis and fear memory deficits were sustained. AGIQ ameliorated most changes on acute pro-inflammatory responses and oxidative stress at PND 6, and the effects on USVs at PND 10 and neurogenesis and behavioral parameters throughout the adult stage. These results suggested that neonatal LPS treatment induced acute but transient neuroinflammation, triggering the progressive disruption of hippocampal neurogenesis leading to abnormal behaviors in later life. AGIQ treatment was effective for ameliorating LPS-induced progressive changes by critically suppressing initial pro-inflammatory responses and oxidative stress.
Skin sensitization is an important aspect of safety assessment and is a key component in the toxicological evaluation of chemicals. alpha-Glycosyl isoquercitrin (AGIQ), is marketed in Japan as a food additive and is generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by the expert panel of the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association (FEMA) in 2005 and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2007. The Local Lymph Node Assay (LLNA) was used to assess AGIQ’s potential to cause skin sensitization. Results indicate that no excessive irritation was observed after the irritation screen (ear swelling < 25 % and erythema score < 3) when AGIQ was tested at 5 %, 10 %, and 25 % in N, N-dimethyl formamide [DMF]. Based on lack of irritation, AGIQ was further evaluated at 10 %, 25 %, and 50 % in DMF in the main test resulting in stimulation indices of less than the positive threshold of 1.6 i.e., 1.2, 1.4, and 1.2 respectively. Therefore, AGIQ was not a dermal sensitizer in the LLNA.
We previously reported that continuous exposure to α-glycosyl isoquercitrin (AGIQ) from the fetal stage to adulthood facilitates fear-extinction learning in rats. The present study investigated the combined effect of continuous exposure to AGIQ with voluntary exercise or environmental enrichment on learning and behaviors in rats. For this purpose, maternal Long-Evans rats were either untreated or treated with 0.5% AGIQ in basal diet from gestational day 6 to day 21 post-delivery. Offspring in both groups were weaned on postnatal day 21 and reared thereafter either in a standard cage, a wheel cage or an environmental enrichment cage until the end of the experiment with or without exposure to AGIQ. Fear memory, locomotor activity and anxiety-like behavior in open field test, spatial memory and nonspatial memory were assessed in adulthood. Environmental enrichment without AGIQ exposure, as well as AGIQ exposure in standard cage, showed a tendency for facilitation of fear-extinction learning. However, exposure to AGIQ and environmental enrichment did not act synergistically. Voluntary exercise only decreased the total distance traveled in the open field test in the condition with or without AGIQ exposure, suggesting induction of anxiety-like behavior. Body weight from lactation period to adulthood, body and brain weights at the end of the experiment did not change by exposure to AGIQ under any cage condition. Therefore, there was no beneficial or detrimental effect of voluntary exercise and environment enrichment on the outcome of behavior or general conditions by continuous AGIQ exposure from the fetal stage.