Figure 1.

Experimental Design. Starting at 4 weeks of age female MRL+/+ mice were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatment groups (10 mice/treatment group). Each group consisted of (1) Vehicle and 10% kcal fat diet (TCE⁻/HFD⁻); (2) Vehicle and 40% kcal fat diet (TCE⁻/HFD⁺); (3) TCE and 10% kcal fat diet (TCE⁺/HFD⁻), and (4) TCE and 40% kcal fat diet (TCE⁺/HFD⁺). All exposures started 4 weeks prior to breeding and continued during gestation and lactation. Female offspring were weaned at 3 weeks and exposed to the same treatment directly for an additional 7 weeks after which TCE was removed from the purified drinking water and a standard diet was implemented. Mice were euthanized at 27 weeks of age and tissues/cells assessed for parameters as described in detail in “Materials and Methods” section.