Development of Physiological and Behavioral Measures of Acute ChemicalNeurotoxicity

摘要

U.S. military personnel may be exposed to a wide variety of potentially toxicchemicals, Examples include deployments in developing countries, and combat conditions in a variety of circumstances. The chemicals personnel may encounter, particularly in combat situations, often are neurotoxicants. Predeployment screening methods such as behavioral and physiological measurements can be used to rapidly assess these potential health hazards. The objectives of this research were to evaluate physiological and behavioral endpoints of neurotoxicity in fish following exposure to selected chemicals (the organophosphates malathion and diazinon), and to assess the correlation between physiology and behavior, Results indicated consistent trends between swimming behaviors (distance and speed swam, rate of turning, and tortuosity of path) and concentrations within and across exposure times. Similar results occurred with measurement of cholinesterase activity. A trend was observed with muscarinic cholinergic receptor number consistent with changes in cholinesterase activity. More importantly, there was a significant correlation between behavioral and physiological endpoints for malathion, but not diazinon. These results support sentinel monitoring as a screening method for neurotoxicity prior to troop deployment. This report summarizes research completed in year one. In the second year, we will assess effects of other chemical classes and mixtures of chemicals.