Effect of Sub-Lethal Organic and Metallic Toxicant Concentrations on Neurological Biomarkers of Neonates.
Abstract
Exposure of humans to lethal or clearly harmful levels of toxicants is straightforward to assess. Counting the number of survivors or enumerating injuries provides an accurate, repeatable method for assessing toxicant effect. However, chronic exposure to very low levels of toxicants is much more problematic. Effects to very low levels of toxicants often produces effects temporally separate from exposure and not linkable in a cause and effect relationship. Our study probed the relationship between low levels of toxicants and neurological responses. After exploratory assays of various neurotoxic chemicals, we used trimethyltin to assess neurological damage to embryos, the most sensitive stage of the life cycle. We found that we were able to detect these low levels of trimethyltin by video image analysis of neural fields using the electrochromic dye Di-4-ANEPPS. We also used analysis of retrograde transport of scrape-loaded tracer dye through neurons. We found that there was no detectable difference in the neuronal paths traced by the tracer dye.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1996
- Accession Number
- ADA328856
Entities
People
- James T. Blankemeyer
Organizations
- Oklahoma State University–Stillwater