Neonatal exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE 153) disrupts spontaneous behaviour, impairs learning and memory, and decreases hippocampal cholinergic receptors in adult mice

Developmental neurotoxicity of polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants

“…An alternative interpretation might be that the decreased activity at the beginning of the session is a possible sign of increased anxiety or arousal, and the elevated activity later in the session is simply the animals finally beginning to explore their environment, as controls did at the beginning of the session. In some cases, the observed behavioral changes appeared to worsen with age (e.g from 2 to 6 month of age; Viberg et al 2003a;2003b). Two of the PBDEs tested (BDE-209 and BDE-183, a heptaBDE) did not cause any behavioral change when administered on PND 10; however, they induced the usual changes in locomor activity (decreased habituation) when administered on PND 3 (Viberg et al 2003b;.…”

“…A Swedish group has carried out most studies on developmental neurotoxicity of various PBDEs (see Table 7; Eriksson et al 2001;Viberg et al 2003a;2003b;2007a). Their experimental protocol involves direct exposure of neonatal mice or rats to PBDEs, as a single oral dose, usually on post-natal day (PND) 10.…”

“…In addition to changes in locomotor activity, some PBDEs (e.g BDE-99, were also found to cause cognitive impairment, as decreased spatial memory in a swim (Morris) maze was found upon a single postnatal exposure in mice (Eriksson et al 2001;Viberg et al 2003a;. In another postnatal exposure study, Long-Evans rats were given the pentaBDE mixture DE-71 by gavage from PND 6 to 12 (Dufault et al 2005).…”

Organohalogen contaminants and metabolites in cerebrospinal fluid and cerebellum gray matter in short-beaked common dolphins and Atlantic white-sided dolphins from the western North Atlantic

“…Exposure of neonatal rats to BDE-47 (the most prominent PBDE congener in CSF and cerebellum GM) caused poor performance in horizontal locomotor activity (Eriksson et al, 2001). In addition to the effects on the cerebellum, exposure of neonatal rats to some PBDEs (e.g., BDE-153) impairs learning and memory and decreases hippocampal cholinergic receptors (Viberg et al, 2003). Mechanisms of PBDE neurotoxicity are still being elucidated, but include interference with thyroid hormone signaling, disruption of signal transduction pathways, and oxidative stress (reviewed by Costa and Giordano (2007)).…”

Volumetric Neuroimaging of the Atlantic White‐Sided Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus acutus) Brain from in situ Magnetic Resonance Images

“…These include anthropogenic chemicals such as hydroxylated polychlorinated biphenyls (OH-PCBs; Sandala et al, 2004;Houde et al, 2006;McKinney et al, 2006) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs; De Boer et al, 1998), as well as biotoxins from harmful algal blooms (Scholin et al, 2000). These chemicals can target the brain (Viberg et al, 2003;Kimura-Kuroda et al, 2005;Silvagni et al, 2005). For example, domoic acid (a type of biotoxin produced by some diatom Pseudo-nitzschia species and associated with harmful algal blooms) is neurotoxic and has been shown to cause bilateral hippocampal atrophy in California sea lions (Silvagni et al, 2005).…”