Abstract
The combined effects of environmental agents, as metals and pesticides, on human health, need be evaluated because human exposition occurs generally through mixtures, while regulatory assessment of neurotoxicity by these compounds is currently performed only on selected single substances. In the present study the effects of maternal exposure to 10 mg cadmium/l (as cadmium acetate) in drinking water and dimethoate 4 mg/kg (via gavage) during gestation on the development of motor activity (locomotion and motor coordination) and social behavior (anxiety-like behavior and aggressivity) were studied. The importance of the cholinergic system in the modulation of behaviors was studied using acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity as a biomarker of effect. Cadmium (Cd) and dimethoate (DM) single exposition modified fetal programing for motor activity and social behavior at childhood and adulthood and leads to disturbs of the AChE activity. Exposition to the mixture of Cd and DM enhanced effects on fetal programing and AChE activity. The present results provide, for the first time, direct experimental evidence supporting that joint exposure to cadmium and dimethoate in uterus of rats seems additive and it is perturbs offspring development leading to harmful consequences on motor activity and social behavior, probably related to modulation of the cholinergic system. Our data suggest that added precautions regarding gestational exposure to metals and pesticide mixtures would be prudent to avoid the possibility of fetal programming.
Highlights
In the last decades relevant progress has been made in the study of relation between environmental contaminants and adverse effects in human health
The aim of the present study was to assess motor activity and social behavior during development of rats offspring exposed to cadmium and dimethoate mixture in the gestational period, and to assess the importance of the cholinergic system in the modulation of these behaviors, using AChE activity as a biomarker of effect
Data were compared by the two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA); a Tukey-Kramer post hoc test was used for comparisons between means when ANOVA was significant at p
Summary
In the last decades relevant progress has been made in the study of relation between environmental contaminants and adverse effects in human health. Metals and organophosphate insecticides are two classes of environmental emerging contaminants that have been causing concerns about risk evaluation in public health. Cadmium and dimethoate are important compounds of these classes due to increased rate of production, utilization and liberation for the environment. In recent years, these compounds are being individually studied and their actions on neurobehavioral activity have been reported in the current literature. Cadmium is a metal toxicologically important because its organism half-life is 10-30 years mainly because of its low excretion rate from the body. Prolonged exposure to it has been linked to many toxic effects since it accumulates over time in a variety of structures including kidney, liver, and central nervous system (CNS) [1]
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