Effect of U and ¹³⁷Cs chronic contamination on dopamine and serotonin metabolism in the central nervous system of the rat

Abstract

Following the Chernobyl accident, the most significant problem for the population of the former Soviet Union for the next 50-70 years will be chronic internal contamination by radionuclides. One of the few experiments carried out in this field reported that neurotransmitter metabolism in the central nervous system of the rat was disturbed after feeding with oats contaminated by 137Cs for 1 month. The present study assessed the effect of chronic contamination by depleted U or 137Cs on the metabolism of two neurotransmitters in cerebral areas of rats. Dopamine and serotonin were chosen because their metabolism has been shown to be disturbed after external irradiation, even at moderate doses. Dopamine, serotonin, and some of their catabolites were measured by high-pressure liquid chromatography coupled with an electrochemical detector in five cerebral structures of rats contaminated over a 1-month period by drinking water (40 mg U.L -1 or 6500 Bq 137Cs.L -1). In the striatum, hippocampus, cerebral cortex, thalamus, and cerebellum, the dopamine, serotonin, and catabolite levels were not significantly different between the control rats and rats contaminated by U or 137Cs. These results are not in accordance with those previously described.

Chronic Contamination of Rats with 137Cesium Radionuclide: Impact on the Cardiovascular System

“…Our laboratory has previously shown, under the same experimental conditions, that chronic 137 Cs ingestion at low concentrations has no significant effect on body weight, water consumption, or food intake [11,27] nor does it affect locomotor activity [8]. Our results here confirmed those findings and thus do not agree with those of Bandazhevsky, who reports increased fatigue or apathy associated with cardiovascular symptoms in children who have lived in contaminated areas of Belarus since the Chernobyl explosion [25].…”

Comparison of the effects of enriched uranium and 137-cesium on the behaviour of rats after chronic exposure

“…Bandhazhevsky and Lelevich (Bandazhevsky & Lelevich. 1995) reported that the serotoninergic system was almost suppressed in some cerebral areas of rats after one month exposure to oats contaminated by 137-cesium although no effect was found on rats contaminated with higher dosages of 137-cesium in drinking water for one month (Houpert et al 2004). Thus at the present time, no experimental study allows us to incriminate 137-cesium exposures to the behavioral effects observed in humans after the Chernobyl accident.…”

Effect of18Irradiation on Neurotransmitters in the Brains of Goldfish Carassius auratus

“…This result suggests that 18 F leads to changes in a classical neurotransmitter, tryptophan, in both the brains of control goldfish and goldfish contaminated by irradiation. X-선[2,3,14,15, 20,24,26], 감마선[5,8,12,27], 마이크로파 [11,22], 방사성 핵종 [9,23] …”

“…이러한 방사선 노출 때문에 생물체내의 세포핵 또는 세포가 손상되거나 사멸된다 고 보고되어 있다 [18,19]. 한편 실험동물의 생체 내에 존재하 는 신경전달물질, neuropeptides 및 효소들이 X-선 [2,3,14,15,20,24,26], 감마선 [5,8,12,27], 마이크로파 [11,22], 방사성 핵종 [9,23] (Fig. 3A), 트립토판은 정제한 물질과 같은 머무름 시간인 16.8분에서 피크를 나타내었다 (Fig.…”

“…Depleted U 또는 137 Cs가 포함된 물을 사용한 쥐들은 DA, 5-HT 및 그들의 대사 물이 정상적인 동물에 비해 커다란 차이점을 나타내지 않았다 [9]. 그러나 생쥐의 뇌에 137 Cs을 조사한 결과, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2)의 농도가 증가되고, cyclooxygenase (COX)-2가 발 현되어 PGE의 합성조절에 관여하고 있다는 것이 보고되었다 [23].…”