Immunotoxic effects of chronic, equitoxic doses (1/50, 1/75, and 1/100 LD50) of two organophosphorus pesticides dimethoate (DM) and methylparathion (MPT) (14.1, 9.39, and 7.04 mg kg-1 DM; and 0.436, 0.291, and 0.218 mg kg-1 MPT) were investigated in a three generation study in out- bred Wistar rats. Treatment of the first generation (G1) with these doses began in animals 4 weeks of age; the parental males were dosed until separation of females, and after mating the females were treated until separation of their G2 offspring (at the age of 4 weeks), and the G3 generation was produced in the same way from treated parental G2 animals. Selected 4 week old males from each generation were also treated with DM and MPT for 4 weeks (experimental groups) before determination of certain conventional toxicological (body weight gain, birth weight and number, organ weights), haematological (absolute and differential WBC, RBC, Ht, MCV, nucleated cell content of femoral bone marrow), and immune func tion parameters (IgM-PFC number of spleen, DTH reac tion). Effects of both substances on immunological variables were detectable at the 1/75 LD50 dose level, but different parameters were affected in the three consecutive genera tions.

No abstract

Male Wistar rats were treated for 4, 8, and 12 wk with 3.33, 6.66, 13.3, or 26.6 mg/kg of inorganic arsenic (NaAsO(2)) per os by gavage. Changes in behavioral and electrophysiological parameters (spontaneous open-field exploration; electrocorticogram mean frequency and power spectrum; latency and duration of somatosensory, visual, and auditory evoked potentials; conduction velocity; and relative and absolute refractory period of a peripheral nerve) were determined. Treated rats exhibited hypoactivity of horizontal ambulation in the open field and showed depressed rates of grooming. The electrophysiological data, recorded from anesthetized rats, did not show any significant dose- and time-dependent changes. Changes in humoral immune response, tested after 4 wk of treatment, were not marked. The weight of organs responsible for immune response (thymus, spleen, adrenals), was significantly reduced, as were delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction and mean cell volume (MCV) of red blood cells a hematological parameter. Plaque-forming cell (PFC) assay proved to be insensitive in this short-time exposure. These results suggest that subchronic low-level exposure to arsenic can affect immune responses and/or spontaneous behavior of rats.

No abstract

No abstract