Abstract
In the past, scientists focused on the development of antidotes (mainly anticholinergics in combination with reactivators of inhibited acetylcholinesterase-oximes) to increase the number of surviving nerve agent-intoxicated individuals. Recently, they are interested in antidotes able not only to protect nerve agent-poisoned men from lethal toxic effects but also to improve their life quality by improvement of their central cognitive functions. In our study, the water maze was used to measure spatial working learning and memory in the case of tabun-induced cognitive impairment in albino Wistar rats. Antidotal treatment consisted of atropine alone or a combination of atropine with an oxime (obidoxime, trimedoxime or oxime HI-6). Our results suggest that atropine alone is not sufficient as a treatment for saving cognitive functions impaired by tabun. On the other hand, the addition of oxime to atropine contributes to improvement of cognitive performance in tabun-poisoned rats regardless of type of oxime.
Highlights
Organophosphates are commonly used in agriculture and in veterinary practice
The process of spatial memory formation performance in tabun-induced and treated neurotoxicity was evaluated in rats
Our results suggested that learning of experimental group intoxicated with tabun and consecutively treated with atropine alone is impaired in comparison with Control 1, because animals needed about two times longer latency to achieve the goal than pharmacologically unaffected animals
Summary
Organophosphates are commonly used in agriculture and in veterinary practice. Toxic organophosphates, called nerve agents, can be misused as chemical warfare agents [20]. Potential for exposure to nerve agents, such as sarin (GB; O-isopropylmethylfluorophosphonate), tabun (GA; O-ethyldimethylamidocyanophosphate), soman (GD; O-pinacolylmethylfluorophosphonate), VX (O-ethyl-S-(2-diisopropylamino-ethyl)-methylthiophosphonate) and cyclosarin (GF; O-cyclohexylmethylfluorophosphonate) exists in the battlefield (e.g., in Iran-Iraq war), as a threat by terrorist groups (e.g., the Tokyo subway incident), or as an accident during current demilitarization efforts. The mechanism of nerve agent-induced toxicity is based on the irreversible inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE, EC 3.1.1.7) resulting in excessive acetylcholine effects within the nervous system. The peripheral cholinergic system is well understood, while the central nervous system functions research evolves. Central cholinergic systems are important in protective systems, locomotion, alertness and memory and in the regulation of a number of cyclic and periodic behaviors [27]
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