Treatment of Memory Impairment and Sensorimotor Deficits in an Animal Model for the Gulf War Veterans Illnesses
Abstract
The main goal of this project is to investigate the use of flupirtine to protect and/or treat the Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses (GWVI) in an animal model. Many of the Persian Gulf War (PGW) veterans have complained of illnesses, known as the GWI affecting the nervous and the musculoskeletal systems (Institute of Medicine 1995). The symptoms include chronic fatigue, muscle pain, forgetfulness, and inability to concentrate. During the war, American military personnel were exposed to a combination of chemicals such as the insect repellent DEET and the insecticide permethrin to protect against insect borne diseases. Sub-chronic daily dermal exposure of rats, for 60 days, to 40 mg/kg DEET and 0.13 mg/kg permethrin; doses comparable to those present during the PGW environment, resulted in the development of a rat model of the GWI that produced neurobehavioral consequences consistent with those reported by the Veterans(Abou- Donia et al., 2001, 2004). Neuropathological alterations were diffuse neuronal cell death and cytoskeletal abnormalities in the cerebral cortex and the hippocampus, and Purkinje neuron loss in the cerebellum (Abdel-Rahman et. al., 2001). These treatments also resulted in sensorimotor deficits (Abou-Donia, et al., 2004).
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2010
- Accession Number
- ADA541452
Entities
People
- Mohamed B. Abou-donia
Organizations
- Duke University