Abstract
Prenatal acute and chronic exposure to organophosphorus pesticides may evoke physical and behavioral impairments in offspring development. In this report, pregnant Wistar rats were intraperitoneally treated with diazinon (DZN) (10 mg/kg b.w) from G7 to G14 of pregnancy. The animals (males and females) were randomly chosen from the litters. They were observed afterwards for physical (body weight change, incisor eruption and eye opening), neuromotor and behavioral development (surface righting reflex, palmar grasp reflex, negative geotaxis, forelimb support test, open field test and Morris water maze) and brain acetylcholinesterase activity was measured. The Results showed differences in physical and neuromotor parameters and brain acetylcholinesterase activity between treated and control groups. At the adolescence period, the open field test showed hyperactivity, as well as an enhancement of an exploratory state associated with anxiolyticlike effect. The Morris water maze showed an enhancement of spatial memory. We conclude that DZN at high doses was able to disrupt physical and neuromotor development in pups during lactation and also modify behavioral and cognitive state at adolescence period. This may have been linked with organophosphorus mediated inhibition of central nervous system acetylcholinesterase activity.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Carr, R. L. et al. Effects of repeated oral postnatal exposure to chlorpyrifos on openfield behaviour in juvenile rats. Toxicol. Sci. 59, 260–267 (2001).
Salvin, R. S. et al. Neuropsychiatric evaluation in subjects chronically exposed to organophosphate Pesticides. Toxicol. Sci. 72, 267–271 (2003).
Costa, L. G. et al. Developmental neuropathology of environmental agents. Annu. Rev. Pharmacol. Toxicol. 44, 87–110 (2004).
Colborn, T. A. Case for revisiting the safety of pesticides: a closer look at neurodevelopment. Environ. Health. Perspect. 114, 10–17 (2006).
Grandjean, P. & Landrigan, P. J. Developmental neurotoxicity of industrial chemicals. Lancet 368, 2167–2178 (2006).
Bjorling-Poulsen, M., Andersen, H. R. & Grandjean, P. Potential developmental neurotoxicity of pesticides used in Europe. Environ. Health. 7, 50 (2008).
Jaga, K. & Dharmani, C. The interrelation between organophosphate toxicity and the epidemiology of depression and suicide. Rev. Environ. Health. 22, 57–73 (2007).
Jamal, G. A. et al. Clinical neurological, neurophysiological and neuropsychological study of sheep farmers and dippers exposed to organophosphate pesticides. Occup. Environ. Med. 59, 434–441 (2002).
Landrigan, P. J. et al. Pesticides and innercity children: exposures, risks, and prevention. Environ. Health. Perspect. 107, 431–437 (1999).
Levin, E. D. et al. Prenatal chlorpyrifos exposure in rats causes persistent behavioural alterations. Neurotoxicol. Teratol. 24, 733–741 (2002).
Eaton, D. L. et al. Review of the toxicology of chlorpyrifos with an emphasis on human exposure and neu-rodevelopment. Crit. Rev. Toxicol. 38, 1–25 (2008).
Eskenazi, B., Bradman, A. & Castorina, R. Exposures of children to organophosphate pesticides and their potential adverse health effects. Environ. Health. Perspect. 107, 409–419 (1999).
Raffaele, K. C. et al. The use of developmental neuro-toxicity data in pesticide risk assessments. Neurotoxicol. Teratol. 32, 563–572 (2010).
Jaga, K. & Dharmani, C. Sources of exposure to and public health implications of organophosphate pesticides. Rev. Panam. Salud. Publica. 14, 171–185 (2003).
Horn, J., Haley, R. & Kurt, T. Neuropsychological correlates of Gulf War syndrome. Arch. Clin. Neuropsychol. 12, 531–44 (1997).
Proctor, S. P., Heaton, K. J., Heeren, T. & White, R. F. Effects of sarin and cyclosarin exposure during the 1991 Gulf War on neurobehavioral functioning in US army veterans. Neurotoxicol. 27, 931–9 (2006).
Zhang, Y. et al. Prenatal Exposure to organophosphate Pesticides and Neurobehavioral Development of Neonates: A Birth Cohort Study in Shenyang, China. PLoS ONE 9, e88491 1–10 (2014).
Slotkin, T. A. Cholinergic systems in brain develop-ment and disruption by neurotoxicants: nicotine, environmental tobacco smoke, organophosphates. Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol. 15, 132–51 (2004).
Lazarinia, C. A., Limab, R. Y., Guedes, A. P. & Bernardi, M. M. Prenatal exposure to dichlorvos: physical and behavioural effects on rat offspring. Neurotoxicol. Teratol. 26, 607–614 (2004).
Laura, M. et al. Behavioral alterations in adolescent and adult rats caused by a brief subtoxic exposure to chlorpyrifos during neurulation. Neurotoxicol. Teratol. 26, 95–101 (2004).
Rosane, M. S. et al. Neuropsychiatric evaluation in subjects chronically exposed to organophosphate pesticides. Toxicol. Sci. 72, 267–271 (2003).
Song, X. et al. Cellular mechanisms for developmental toxicity of chlorpyrifos: targeting the adenylyl cyclase signaling cascade. Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol. 145, 158–174 (1997).
Ricceri, L. et al. Developmental exposure to chlorpyrifos alters reactivity to environmental and social cues in adolescent mice. Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol. 191, 189–201 (2003).
Roegge, C. S. et al. Developmental DZN neurotoxicity in rats: Later effects on emotional response. Brain. Research. Bull. 75, 166–172 (2008).
Timofeeva, O. A. et al. Persistent cognitive alterations in rats after early postnatal exposure to low doses of the organophosphate pesticide, DZN. Neurotoxicol. Teratol. 30, 38–45 (2008).
Whyatt, R. M. et al. Prenatal Insecticide Exposures and Birth Weight and Length among an Urban Minority Cohort. Environ. Health. Perspect. 112, 1125–1132 (2004).
Chanda, S. M. & Pope, C. N. Neurochemical and neu-robehavioral effects of repeated gestational exposure to chlorpyrifos in maternal and developing rats. Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. 53, 771–776 (1996).
Payne, J. F. et al. Acetylcholinesterase, an old biomarker with a new future? Field trials in association with two urban rivers and a paper mill in Newfoundland. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 32, 225–231 (1996).
Dam, K., Seidler, F. J. & Slotkin, T. A. Chlorpyrifos exposure during a critical neonatal period elicits gender-selective deficits in the development of coordination skills and locomotors activity. Dev. Brain. Res. 121, 179–187 (2000).
Chanda, S. M., Harp, P., Liu, J. & Pope, C. N. Comparative developmental and maternal neurotoxicity following acute gestational exposure to CPF in rats. J. Toxicol. Environ. Health. 44, 189–202 (1995).
Slotkin, T. A. et al. Persistent cholinergic presynaptic deficits after neonatal chlorpyrifos exposure. Brain. Res. 902, 229–43 (2001).
Timothy, J. H. & Benjamin, R. Minton. Effects of Environmental Enrichment on Rat Behaviour in the Open Field Test. On Undergraduate Research (NCUR) 2012. March, 29–31 (2012).
Degroot, A. & Treit, D. Dorsal and ventral hippocampal cholinergic systems modulate anxiety in the plus-maze and shockprobe tests. Brain. Res. 949, 60–70 (2002).
Wen-Qiang, C. et al. Repeated exposure to chlorpyrifos alters the performance of adolescent male rats in animal models of depression and anxiety. Neurotoxicol. 32, 355–361 (2011).
Slotkin, T. & Seidler, F. J. Prenatal chlorpyrifos expo-sure elicits presynaptic serotonergic and dopaminergic hyperactivity at adolescence: Critical periods for regional and sex-selective effects. Reprod. Toxicol. 23, 421–427 (2007).
Gupta, R. C. et al. Brain cholinergic, behavioural and morphological development in rats exposed in utero to methylpatathion. Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol. 77, 405–413 (1985).
Bird, S. B., Gaspar, R. J. & Dickson, E. W. Early death due to severe organophosphate poisoning is a centrally mediated process. Acad. Emerg. Med. 10, 295–298 (2003).
Marks, A. R. et al. Organophosphate pesticide expo-sure and attention in young Mexican-American children. Environ. Health. Perspect. 118, 1768–1774 (2010).
Pope, C. N. Organophosphorus pesticides: do they all have the same mechanism of toxicity? J. Toxicol. Environ. Health. 2, 161–181 (1999).
Slotkin, T. A. Developmental cholinotoxicants: nicotine and chlorpyrifos. Environ. Health Persp. 107, 71–80 (1999).
Frank, O. et al. Developmental Chlorpyrifos and Methyl Parathion Exposure Alters Radial-Arm Maze Perfor-mance in Juvenile and Adult Rats. Toxicol. Sci. 109, 132–142 (2009).
Laura, M. et al. Behavioral alterations in adolescent and adult rats caused by a brief subtoxic exposure to chlorpyrifos during neurulation. Neurotoxicol. Teratol. 26, 95–101 (2004).
Freeman, M. E. in The neuroendocrine control of the ovarian cycle of the rat 2nd ed (eds Knobi E, Neill JD) 613–657 (Raven Press, New York, 1994).
Klotzsche, C. Toxicology of new phosphoric acid ester insecticides. Drug Research. 5, 436–439 (1955).
Shokrzadeh, M. et al. Effect of Vitamins A, E and C on Liver Enzyme Activity in Rats Exposed to Organo-phosphate Pesticide DZN. Pak. Biol. Sci. 15, 936–941 (2012).
ETAP. Report of study. Applied ethology. Ingredia. No18/1100/ING911.behavioral toxicology (2001).
Ellman, G. L. et al. A new and rapid colorimetric deter-mination of acetylcholinestrase activity. Biochem. Pharmacol. 7, 88–95 (1961).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tayaa, H., Bouhali, I.E. & Tahraoui, A. Prenatal exposure to diazinon induced developmental impairments in rat offspring: Behavioral and biochemical aspects. Toxicol. Environ. Health Sci. 7, 289–296 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13530-015-0251-z
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13530-015-0251-z