Behavioral performance, brain histology, and EEG sequela after immediate combined atropine/diazepam treatment of soman-intoxicated rats
article
It is known that rats poisoned with near-lethal doses of pinacolyl methylphosphonofluoridate (soman) develop brain lesions, particularly when convulsions are induced. When rats were intoxicated with a LD50 of soman and treated immediately thereafter with a combination of low doses of atropine and diazepam (LOW AS/DZ treatment), large decrements in performance of an earlier acquired shuttle-box task were found 6 days after intoxication. In contrast, no such decrements were found in soman-intoxicated animals treated similarly with a combination of high doses of these drugs (HIGH AS/DZ treatment). Surprisingly, surviving LOW AS/DZ animals acquired the same task again at a speed that was almost as fast as before intoxication. Similarly treated animals were examined lightmicroscopically 24 h after intoxication; in LOW-AS/DZ-treated animals, neuropathology was only observed in animals that had exhibited convulsions, whereas in HIGH AS/DZ animals neither convulsions nor brain damage were observed. Power spectra, obtained from electroencephalograms (EEGs) 6 days after intoxication, revealed significant differences between both treatment groups, particularly in the δ-, θ-, and β-frequencies. After the HIGH AS/DZ treatment, a significant increase in δ activity was found compared to control values, suggestive of neuropathology. It is concluded that, in contrast with the LOW AS/DZ combination, HIGH prevents active avoidance deficits, convulsions, and lightmicroscopically detectable neuropathology after soman intoxication. However, the results of EEG measurements suggest that some aberrations may still remain even after the HIGH AS/DZ treatment.
Topics
TNO Identifier
231914
ISSN
00913057
Source
Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, 42(4), pp. 711-719.
Pages
711-719
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