Male-biased vulnerability of mouse brain tryptophan/kynurenine and glutamate systems to adolescent exposures to concentrated ambient ultrafine particle air pollution.

Air pollution (AP) exposures have been associated with numerous neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders, including autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and schizophrenia, all male-biased disorders with onsets from early life to late adolescence/early adulthood. While prior experimental studies have focused on effects of AP exposures during early brain development, brain development actually extends well into early adulthood. The current study in mice sought to extend the understanding of developmental brain vulnerability during adolescence, a later but significant period of brain development and maturation to the ultrafine particulate (UFPs) component of AP, considered its most reactive component. Additionally, it examined adolescent response to UFPs when preceded by earlier developmental exposures, to ascertain the trajectory of effects and potential enhancement or mitigation of adverse consequences. Outcomes focused on shared features associated with multiple neurodevelopmental disorders. For this purpose, C57Bl/6 J mice of both sexes were exposed to ambient concentrated UFPs or filtered air from PND (postnatal day) 4-7 and PND10-13, and again at PND39-42 and 45-49, resulting in 3 exposure postnatal/adolescent treatment groups per sex: Air/Air, Air/UFP, and UFP/UFP. Features common to neurodevelopmental disorders were examined at PND50. Mass exposure concentration from postnatal exposure averaged 44.34 µg/m3 and the adolescent exposure averaged 49.18 µg/m3. Male brain showed particular vulnerability to UFP exposures in adolescence, with alterations in frontal cortical and striatal glutamatergic and tryptophan/serotonergic neurotransmitters and concurrent reductions in levels of astrocytes in corpus callosum and in serum cytokine levels, with combined exposures resulting in significant reductions in corpus callosum myelination and serum corticosterone. Reductions in serum corticosterone in males correlated with reductions in neurotransmitter levels, and reductions in striatal glutamatergic function specifically correlated with reductions in corpus callosum astrocytes. UFP-induced changes in neurotransmitter levels in males were mitigated by prior postnatal exposure, suggesting potential adaptation, whereas reductions in corticosterone and in corpus callosum neuropathological effects were further strengthened by combined postnatal and adolescent exposures. UFP-induced changes in females occurred primarily in striatal dopamine systems and as reductions in serum cytokines only in response to combined postnatal and adolescent exposures. Findings in males underscore the importance of more integrated physiological assessments of mechanisms of neurotoxicity. Further, these findings provide biological plausibility for an accumulating epidemiologic literature linking air pollution to neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. As such, they support a need for consideration of the regulation of the UFP component of air pollution.

A behavioral timing intervention upregulates striatal serotonergic markers and reduces impulsive action in adult male mice.

Many studies support the hypothesis that time-based interventions reduce impulsive behavior in rodents. However, few studies have directly assessed 1) how such interventions affect impulsive action rather than impulsive choice, 2) if intervention effects differ by sex, and 3) how time-based interventions affect neurochemistry in regions mediating decision-making and reward. Thus, we assessed how a fixed-interval (FI) intervention initiated during late adolescence and extending into adulthood affected dopaminergic and serotonergic analytes in the frontal cortex and striatum and subsequent impulsive action in adult male and female mice. Beginning on postnatal day (PND) 45, mice were either trained on a progressive series of FI schedules (FI 20, 40, & 60 s) or remained in the home cage. Following the intervention, increases in striatal serotonergic analytes were found in FI-exposed males and females (n = 8/sex/group) with few changes found in the frontal cortex. Impulsive action was assessed in the remaining mice (n = 10/sex/group) using a fixed-ratio waiting-for-reward (FR-wait) task in which completion of an FR-25 component initiated a "free" pellet component in which pellets were delivered at increasing intervals according to a fixed delay increment that varied across sessions. Responses reset the additive delay and initiated a new FR-25 component. FI-exposed males, but not females, showed fewer delay resets and no-wait resets relative to control mice. Importantly, FI-exposure did not affect discrimination reversal performance in either sex. These data suggest that time-based interventions may reduce impulsive action in addition to impulsive choice perhaps with increased male sensitivity. Additionally, time-based interventions appear to operate through striatal serotonergic augmentation.

Neonatal exposure to ultrafine iron but not combined iron and sulfur aerosols recapitulates air pollution-induced impulsivity in mice.

Air pollution (AP) is becoming recognized as a major threat to neurological health across the lifespan with increased risk of both neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. AP is a complex mixture of gases and particulate matter, with adsorbed contaminants including metals and trace elements, which may differentially contribute to its neurodevelopmental impacts. Iron (Fe) is one of the most abundant metals found in AP, and Fe concentrations may drive some behavioral deficits observed in children. Furthermore, brains of neonate mice exposed to concentrated ambient ultrafine particulate matter (UFP) show significant brain accumulation of Fe and sulfur (S) supporting the hypothesis that AP exposure may lead to brain metal dyshomeostasis. The current study determined the extent to which behavioral effects of UFP, namely memory deficits and impulsive-like behavior, could be recapitulated with exposure to Fe aerosols with or without concomitant SO2. Male and female neonate mice were either exposed to filtered air or spark discharge-generated ultrafine Fe particles with or without SO2 gas (n = 12/exposure/sex). Inhalation exposures occurred from postnatal day (PND) 4-7 and 10-13 for 4 hr/day, mirroring our previous UFP exposures. Mice were aged to adulthood prior to behavioral testing. While Fe or Fe + SO2 exposure did not affect gross locomotor behavior, Fe + SO2-exposed females displayed consistent thigmotaxis during locomotor testing. Neither exposure affected novel object memory. Fe or Fe + SO2 exposure produced differential outcomes on a fixed-interval reinforcement schedule with males showing higher (Fe-only) or lower (Fe + SO2) response rates and postreinforcement pauses (PRP) and females showing higher (Fe-only) PRP. Lastly, Fe-exposed, but not Fe + SO2-exposed, males showed increased impulsive-like behavior in tasks requiring response inhibition with no such effects in female mice. These findings suggest that: 1) exposure to realistic concentrations of Fe aerosols can recapitulate behavioral effects of UFP exposure, 2) the presence of SO2 can modulate behavioral effects of Fe inhalation, and 3) brain metal dyshomeostasis may be an important factor in AP neurotoxicity.

Alterations in glucocorticoid negative feedback following maternal Pb, prenatal stress and the combination: a potential biological unifying mechanism for their corresponding disease profiles.

Combined exposures to maternal lead (Pb) and prenatal stress (PS) can act synergistically to enhance behavioral and neurochemical toxicity in offspring. Maternal Pb itself causes permanent dysfunction of the body's major stress system, the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis. The current study sought to determine the potential involvement of altered negative glucocorticoid feedback as a mechanistic basis of the effects in rats of maternal Pb (0, 50 or 150 ppm in drinking water beginning 2 mo prior to breeding), prenatal stress (PS; restraint on gestational days 16-17) and combined maternal Pb+PS in 8 mo old male and female offspring. Corticosterone changes were measured over 24 h following an i.p. injection stress containing vehicle or 100 or 300 microg/kg (females) or 100 or 150 microg/kg (males) dexamethasone (DEX). Both Pb and PS prolonged the time course of corticosterone reduction following vehicle injection stress. Pb effects were non-monotonic, with a greater impact at 50 vs. 150 ppm, particularly in males, where further enhancement occurred with PS. In accord with these findings, the efficacy of DEX in suppressing corticosterone was reduced by Pb and Pb+PS in both genders, with Pb efficacy enhanced by PS in females, over the first 6 h post-administration. A marked prolongation of DEX effects was found in males. Thus, Pb, PS and Pb+PS, sometimes additively, produced hypercortisolism in both genders, followed by hypocortisolism in males, consistent with HPA axis dysfunction. These findings may provide a plausible unifying biological mechanism for the reported links between Pb exposure and stress-associated diseases and disorders mediated via the HPA axis, including obesity, hypertension, diabetes, anxiety, schizophrenia and depression. They also suggest broadening of Pb screening programs to pregnant women in high stress environments.

Influence of low level maternal Pb exposure and prenatal stress on offspring stress challenge responsivity.

We previously demonstrated potentiated effects of maternal Pb exposure producing blood Pb(PbB) levels averaging 39microg/dl combined with prenatal restraint stress (PS) on stress challenge responsivity of female offspring as adults. The present study sought to determine if: (1) such interactions occurred at lower PbBs, (2) exhibited gender specificity, and (3) corticosterone and neurochemical changes contributed to behavioral outcomes. Rat dams were exposed to 0, 50 or 150ppm Pb acetate drinking water solutions from 2 mos prior to breeding through lactation (pup exposure ended at weaning; mean PbBs of dams at weaning were <1, 11 and 31microg/dl, respectively); a subset in each Pb group underwent prenatal restraint stress (PS) on gestational days 16-17. The effects of variable intermittent stress challenge (restraint, cold, novelty) on Fixed Interval (FI) schedule controlled behavior and corticosterone were examined in offspring when they were adults. Corticosterone changes were also measured in non-behaviorally tested (NFI) littermates. PS alone was associated with FI rate suppression in females and FI rate enhancement in males; Pb exposure blunted these effects in both genders, particularly following restraint stress. PS alone produced modest corticosterone elevation following restraint stress in adult females, but robust enhancements in males following all challenges. Pb exposure blunted these corticosterone changes in females, but further enhanced levels in males. Pb-associated changes showed linear concentration dependence in females, but non-linearity in males, with stronger or selective changes at 50ppm. Statistically, FI performance was associated with corticosterone changes in females, but with frontal cortical dopaminergic and serotonergic changes in males. Corticosterone changes differed markedly in FI vs. NFI groups in both genders, demonstrating a critical role for behavioral history and raising caution about extrapolating biochemical markers across such conditions. These findings demonstrate that maternal Pb interacts with prenatal stress to further modify both behavioral and corticosterone responses to stress challenge, thereby suggesting that studies of Pb in isolation from other disease risk factors will not reveal the extent of its adverse effects. These findings also underscore the critical need to extend screening programs for elevated Pb exposure, now restricted to young children, to pregnant, at risk, women.

CNS effects of developmental Pb exposure are enhanced by combined maternal and offspring stress.

Lead (Pb) exposure and elevated stress are co-occurring risk factors. Both impact brain mesolimbic dopamine/glutamate systems involved in cognitive functions. We previously found that maternal stress can potentiate Pb-related adverse effects in offspring at blood Pb levels averaging approximately 40 microg/dl. The current study of combined Pb exposure and stress sought to extend those results to lower levels of Pb exposure, and to examine relationships among consequences in offspring for fixed interval (FI) schedule-controlled behavior, neurochemistry and corticosterone levels. Dams were exposed to maternal Pb beginning 2 months prior to breeding (0, 50 or 150 ppm in drinking water), maternal restraint stress on gestational days 16 and 17 (MS), or the combination. In addition, a subset of offspring from each resultant treatment group was also exposed intermittently to variable stressors as adults (MS+OS). Marked "Pb-stress"-related increases in response rates on a fixed interval schedule, a behavioral performance with demonstrated sensitivity to Pb, occurred preferentially in female offspring even at mean blood Pb levels of 11 microg/dl when 50 ppm Pb was combined with maternal and offspring stress. Greater sensitivity of females to frontal cortex catecholamine changes may contribute to the elevated FI response rates as mesocorticolimbic systems are critical to the mediation of this behavior. Basal and final corticosterone levels of offspring used to evaluate FI performance differed significantly from those of non-behaviorally tested (NFI) littermates, demonstrating that purported mechanisms of Pb, stress or Pb/stress effects determined in non-behaviorally trained animals cannot necessarily be generalized to animals with behavioral histories. Finally, the persistent and permanent consequences of Pb, stress and Pb+stress in offspring of both genders suggest that Pb screening programs should include pregnant women at risk for elevated Pb exposure, and that stress should be considered as an additional risk factor. Pb+stress effects observed in the absence of either risk factor alone (i.e., potentiated effects) raise questions about the capacity of current hazard identification approaches to adequately identify human health risks posed by neurotoxicants.

Developmental exposure to low level ambient ultrafine particle air pollution and cognitive dysfunction.

Developmental exposures to ambient ultrafine particles (UFPs) can produce multiple neuropathological and neurochemical changes that might contribute to persistent alterations in cognitive-type functions. The objective of the current study was to test the hypothesis that developmental UFP exposure produced impairments in learning, memory and impulsive-like behaviors and to determine whether these were selective and thus independent of deficits in other behavioral domains such as motor activity or motivation. Performance on measures of learning (repeated learning), memory (novel object recognition, NOR), impulsive-like behavior (differential reinforcement of low rate (DRL), schedule of reward and delay of reward (DOR)), motor activity (locomotor behavior) and motivation (progressive ratio schedule) were examined in adult mice that had been exposed to concentrated (10-20x) ambient ultrafine particles (CAPS) averaging approximately 45 ug/m3 particle mass concentrations from postnatal day (PND) 4-7 and 10-13 for 4 h/day. Given the number of behavioral tests, animals were tested in different groups. Results showed male-specific alterations in learning and memory functions (repeated learning, NOR and DRL) specifically during transitions in reinforcement contingencies (changes in rules governing behavior) that did not appear to be related to alterations in locomotor function or motivation. Females did not exhibit cognitive-like deficits at these exposure concentrations, but displayed behaviors consistent with altered motivation, including increases in response rates during repeated learning, significantly increased latencies to respond on the delay of reward paradigm, and reductions in the progressive ratio break point. Consistent with our prior findings, male-specific learning and memory-related deficits were seen and occurred even at relatively low level developmental UFP exposures, while females show alterations in motivational behaviors but not final performance. These findings add to the evidence suggesting the need to regulate UFP levels.

Nerve growth factor somatic mosaicism produced by herpes virus-directed expression of cre recombinase.

Focal molecular genetic alteration of the intact mammalian brain will be required to elucidate gene product function in cells comprising synaptic networks. To this end, a somatic mosaic approach has been developed for the mouse whereby a dormant germline transgene is activated by the somatic delivery and expression of cre recombinase. Transgenic mice harboring a recombinational substrate, the germline-transmitted nerve growth factor excision activation transgene (NGF-XAT) were generated. Somatic delivery of virus vectors expressing cre recombinase into the brain of NGF-XAT mice resulted in regional recombination and activation of the transgene as demonstrated at the DNA level by PCR and at the protein level by both immunocytochemistry and ELISA. This approach has been used to evaluate a behavioral correlate of unilateral NGF mosaicism within the dorsal hippocampal formation. NGF-XAT mice activated by expression of cre recombinase manifest increased locomotor activity compared with NGF-XAT mice transduced by a control virus expressing Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase. These data indicate that focally increased expression of NGF in one part of a synaptic network can elicit changes in behavior presumably by altering the overall function of NGF-responsive neural circuitry. This approach should have broad application to other gene products and promises to provide the unprecedented ability to create and study discrete genetic modifications in the context of an intact adult mammal.

Sex- and brain region- specific effects of prenatal stress and lead exposure on permissive and repressive post-translational histone modifications from embryonic development through adulthood.

Developmental exposure to prenatal stress (PS) and lead (Pb) can affect brain development and adversely influence behavior and cognition. Epigenetic-based gene regulation is crucial for normal brain development and mis-regulation, in any form, can result in neurodevelopmental disorders. Post-translational histone modifications (PTHMs) are an integral and dynamic component of the epigenetic machinery involved in gene regulation. Exposures to Pb and/or PS may alter PTHM profiles, promoting lifelong alterations in brain function observed following Pb±PS exposure. Here we examined the effects of Pb±PS on global levels of activating marks H3K9Ac and H3K4Me3 and repressive marks H3K9Me2 and H3K27Me3 at different developmental stages: E18, PND0, PND6 and PND60. Dams were exposed to 0 or 100ppm Pb beginning 2 months prior to breeding followed by no PS (NS) or PS resulting in 4 offspring treatment groups per sex: 0-NS (control), 0-PS, 100-NS and 100-PS. Global levels of PTHMs varied from E18 through adulthood even in control mice, and were influenced by sex and brain-region. The developmental trajectory of these PTHM levels was further modified by Pb±PS in a sex-, brain region- and age-dependent manner. Females showed a preferential response to Pb alone in frontal cortex (FC) and differentially to PS alone and combined Pb+PS in hippocampus (HIPP). In males, PS-induced increases in PTHM levels in FC, whereas PS produced reductions in HIPP. Pb±PS-based changes in PTHM levels continued to be observed in adulthood (PND60), demonstrating the lasting effect of these early life environmental events on these histone marks. These results indicate that epigenetic consequences of Pb±PS and their contribution to mechanisms of toxicity are sex dependent. Additional studies will assist in understanding the functional significance of these changes in PTHM levels on expression of individual genes, functional pathways, and ultimately, their behavioral consequences.

Cognitive Effects of Air Pollution Exposures and Potential Mechanistic Underpinnings.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review sought to address the potential for air pollutants to impair cognition and mechanisms by which that might occur. RECENT FINDINGS: Air pollution has been associated with deficits in cognitive functions across a wide range of epidemiological studies, both with developmental and adult exposures. Studies in animal models are significantly more limited in number, with somewhat inconsistent findings to date for measures of learning, but show more consistent impairments for short-term memory. Potential contributory mechanisms include oxidative stress/inflammation, altered levels of dopamine and/or glutamate, and changes in synaptic plasticity/structure. Epidemiological studies are consistent with adverse effects of air pollutants on cognition, but additional studies and better phenotypic characterization are needed for animal models, including more precise delineation of specific components of cognition that are affected, as well as definitions of critical exposure periods for such effects and the components of air pollution responsible. This would permit development of more circumscribed hypotheses as to potential behavioral and neurobiological mechanisms.

Developmental neurotoxicity of inhaled ambient ultrafine particle air pollution: Parallels with neuropathological and behavioral features of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders.

Accumulating evidence from both human and animal studies show that brain is a target of air pollution. Multiple epidemiological studies have now linked components of air pollution to diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a linkage with plausibility based on the shared mechanisms of inflammation. Additional plausibility appears to be provided by findings from our studies in mice of exposures from postnatal day (PND) 4-7 and 10-13 (human 3rd trimester equivalent), to concentrated ambient ultrafine (UFP) particles, considered the most reactive component of air pollution, at levels consistent with high traffic areas of major U.S. cities and thus highly relevant to human exposures. These exposures, occurring during a period of marked neuro- and gliogenesis, unexpectedly produced a pattern of developmental neurotoxicity notably similar to multiple hypothesized mechanistic underpinnings of ASD, including its greater impact in males. UFP exposures induced inflammation/microglial activation, reductions in size of the corpus callosum (CC) and associated hypomyelination, aberrant white matter development and/or structural integrity with ventriculomegaly (VM), elevated glutamate and excitatory/inhibitory imbalance, increased amygdala astrocytic activation, and repetitive and impulsive behaviors. Collectively, these findings suggest the human 3rd trimester equivalent as a period of potential vulnerability to neurodevelopmental toxicity to UFP, particularly in males, and point to the possibility that UFP air pollution exposure during periods of rapid neuro- and gliogenesis may be a risk factor not only for ASD, but also for other neurodevelopmental disorders that share features with ASD, such as schizophrenia, attention deficit disorder, and periventricular leukomalacia.

Permanent alterations in stress responsivity in female offspring subjected to combined maternal lead exposure and/or stress.

Elevated lead (Pb) exposures preferentially impact low socioeconomic status (SES) populations, the same groups thought to sustain the highest levels of environmental stress. As co-occurring risk factors, therefore, Pb and stress could interact, a possibility further supported by the fact that both act on mesocorticolimbic dopamine systems of the brain. We recently demonstrated in rats that maternal Pb exposure could permanently increase basal corticosterone levels of offspring consistent with altered hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis function. The current study was thus designed to test the hypothesis that stress responsivity of offspring should likewise be altered, with the outcome differing in response to Pb, stress or Pb+stress. The impact of intermittent variable stress challenges (restraint, novelty, cold) on behavior sensitive to Pb exposure (fixed interval (FI) schedule-controlled responding) and on stress-induced corticosterone changes were evaluated in adult female offspring of dams that had been exposed to Pb (150 ppm) in drinking water from 2 months prior to breeding through lactation with or without maternal restraint stress on days 16 and 17 of gestation. This design yielded four treatment groups: (NS/0, no maternal Pb, no maternal stress; S/0, no maternal Pb, maternal stress; NS/150, maternal Pb, no maternal stress; and S/150, maternal Pb exposure and maternal stress). While maternal Pb alone and stress alone each altered components of stress responsivity, the greatest number of effects was seen in response to Pb + stress. This included alterations in FI performance following both restraint and cold stress and in the corticosterone response to cold stress. Collectively, these studies reveal that maternal Pb exposure alone can permanently alter stress responsivity and that the profile of effects produced by maternal Pb differ from those produced by maternal Pb in conjunction with stress, findings which have both mechanistic and risk assessment significance.

The nigrostriatal dopaminergic system as a preferential target of repeated exposures to combined paraquat and maneb: implications for Parkinson's disease.

Experimental evidence supporting 1,1'-dimethyl-4,4'-bipyridinium [paraquat (PQ)] as a risk factor for Parkinson's disease (PD) is equivocal. Other agricultural chemicals, including dithiocarbamate fungicides such as manganese ethylenebisdithiocarbamate [maneb (MB)], are widely used in the same geographical regions as paraquat and also impact dopamine systems, suggesting that mixtures may be more relevant etiological models. This study therefore proposed that combined PQ and MB exposures would produce greater effects on dopamine (DA) systems than would either compound administered alone. Male C57BL/6 mice were treated twice a week for 6 weeks with intraperitoneal saline, 10 mg/kg paraquat, 30 mg/kg maneb, or their combination (PQ + MB). MB, but not PQ, reduced motor activity immediately after treatment, and this effect was potentiated by combined PQ + MB treatment. As treatments progressed, only the combined PQ + MB group evidenced a failure of motor activity levels to recover within 24 hr. Striatal DA and dihydroxyphenylacetic acid increased 1-3 d and decreased 7 d after injections. Only PQ + MB reduced tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and DA transporter immunoreactivity and did so in dorsal striatum but not nucleus accumbens. Correspondingly, striatal TH protein levels were decreased only by combined PQ + MB 5 d after injection. Reactive gliosis occurred only in response to combined PQ + MB in dorsal-medial but not ventral striatum. TH immunoreactivity and cell counts were reduced only by PQ + MB and in the substantia nigra but not ventral tegmental area. These synergistic effects of combined PQ + MB, preferentially expressed in the nigrostriatal DA system, suggest that such mixtures could play a role in the etiology of PD.

Heritability, correlations and in silico mapping of locomotor behavior and neurochemistry in inbred strains of mice.

The midbrain dopamine system mediates normal and pathologic behaviors related to motor activity, attention, motivation/reward and cognition. These are complex, quantitative traits whose variation among individuals is modulated by genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors. Conventional genetic methods have identified several genes important to this system, but the majority of factors contributing to the variation remain unknown. To understand these genetic and environmental factors, we initiated a study measuring 21 behavioral and neurochemical traits in 15 common inbred mouse strains. We report trait data, heritabilities and genetic and non-genetic correlations between pheno-types. In general, the behavioral traits were more heritable than neurochemical traits, and both genetic and non-genetic correlations within these trait sets were high. Surprisingly, there were few significant correlations between the behavioral and the individual neurochemical traits. However, striatal serotonin and one measure of dopamine turnover (DOPAC/DA) were highly correlated with most behavioral measures. The variable accounting for the most variation in behavior was mouse strain and not a specific neurochemical measure, suggesting that additional genetic factors remain to be determined to account for these behavioral differences. We also report the prospective use of the in silico method of quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis and demonstrate difficulties in the use of this method, which failed to detect significant QTLs for the majority of these traits. These data serve as a framework for further studies of correlations between different midbrain dopamine traits and as a guide for experimental cross designs to identify QTLs and genes that contribute to these traits.

Enhanced learning in mice parallels vector-mediated nerve growth factor expression in hippocampus.

Spatial learning requires the integrity of the nerve growth factor (NGF)-responsive septohippocampal pathway. Loss of a single NGF allele at the mouse NGF locus (heterozygous null, ngf(+/-)) reduces septohippocampal NGF levels and NGF-regulated cholinergic neurotransmitter enzymes and results in spatial learning deficits in adult animals. A herpes simplex virus (HSV) amplicon vector was utilized to locally deliver NGF to the hippocampus of mice heterozygous and wild type (ngf(+/+)) at the NGF gene locus. NGF gene transfer produced transient increases in NGF protein levels and choline acetyltransferase activity in both ngf(+/-) and ngf(+/+) mice. However, spatial learning capability was improved only in ngf(+/-) mice. In aggregate, these findings suggest that amplicon-directed expression of NGF in subjects with baseline septohippocampal dysfunction can correct spatial learning deficits.

Methods to identify and characterize developmental neurotoxicity for human health risk assessment. I: behavioral effects.

Alterations in nervous system function after exposure to a developmental neurotoxicant may be identified and characterized using neurobehavioral methods. A number of methods can evaluate alterations in sensory, motor, and cognitive functions in laboratory animals exposed to toxicants during nervous system development. Fundamental issues underlying proper use and interpretation of these methods include a) consideration of the scientific goal in experimental design, b) selection of an appropriate animal model, c) expertise of the investigator, d) adequate statistical analysis, and e) proper data interpretation. Strengths and weaknesses of the assessment methods include sensitivity, selectivity, practicality, and variability. Research could improve current behavioral methods by providing a better understanding of the relationship between alterations in motor function and changes in the underlying structure of these systems. Research is also needed to develop simple and sensitive assays for use in screening assessments of sensory and cognitive function. Assessment methods are being developed to examine other nervous system functions, including social behavior, autonomic processes, and biologic rhythms. Social behaviors are modified by many classes of developmental neurotoxicants and hormonally active compounds that may act either through neuroendocrine mechanisms or by directly influencing brain morphology or neurochemistry. Autonomic and thermoregulatory functions have been the province of physiologists and neurobiologists rather than toxicologists, but this may change as developmental neurotoxicology progresses and toxicologists apply techniques developed by other disciplines to examine changes in function after toxicant exposure.

Comparison of error patterns produced by scopolamine and MK-801 on repeated acquisition and transition baselines.

An understanding of the differential role of cholinergic and glutaminergic systems may be limited by the failure to move the analysis of learning impairments beyond an assessment of changes in overall accuracy. This paper reports the results of two studies in which the effects in rats of scopolamine (0.5-3.0 mg/kg IP), a cholinergic antagonist, and MK-801 (0.05-0.3 mg/kg IP), an NMDA-receptor antagonist, were compared in two different repeated learning procedures and the nature of the underlying error patterns produced by each was evaluated. The first study examined drug effects upon a repeated sequence acquisition procedure and found that while both drugs decreased overall accuracy in a dose-dependent manner, the predominant error pattern varied significantly with drug; scopolamine primarily produced skipping errors within the sequence, whereas MK-801 more prominently increased perseveration on the first and second members of the sequence. In the second study, which used a repeated transition procedure, both drugs again significantly decreased overall accuracy in a dose-dependent manner, but no consistent differences in error patterning produced by the drugs were observed. Thus, while both cholinergic and NMDA systems play a role in learning, the behavioral processes underlying the changes in overall accuracy may differ, as indicated by the differential patterns of errors produced by scopolamine and MK-801 in the repeated acquisition baseline. Furthermore, the observed differences in the underlying behavioral processes of scopolamine and MK-801 in the repeated acquisition but not on the repeated transition procedure suggest that each of the two drugs may affect more than one of the variables controlling behavior, with the relative impact of drug-related changes in controlling variables depending upon the operative contingencies of the learning task.

Development of behavioral sensitization to the cocaine-like fungicide triadimefon is prevented by AMPA, NMDa, DA D1 but not DA D2 receptor antagonists.

Triadimefon (TDF) is a triazole fungicide that blocks the reuptake of dopamine (DA) and leads to increased locomotor activity levels in mice and rats, effects similar to those of indirect DA agonists such as cocaine. We recently found in mice that intermittent TDF administration led to robust locomotor sensitization, a phenomenon reflecting neuronal plasticity, following challenge with the same TDF dose after a 2-week withdrawal period. The current study sought to determine whether antagonists to DA D1-like receptors (SCH 23390; SCH), DA D2-like receptors (remoxipride; Rem), ionotropic glutamate n-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors (CPP), or ionotropic glutamate alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptors (NBQX) could prevent the development of TDF behavioral sensitization, therefore indicating their mechanistic involvement in TDF sensitization. Mice were treated with either vehicle, SCH (0.015 mg/kg), remoxipride (Rem, 0.3 mg/kg), CPP (2.5 mg/kg) or NBQX (10.0 mg/kg), followed 30 min later by vehicle or 75 mg/kg TDF (TDF), twice a week for 7 weeks, with locomotor activity measured post-dosing once a week. After a 2-week withdrawal period, mice were challenged with 75 mg/kg TDF or vehicle, to test for the presence of behavioral sensitization. Pretreatment with SCH, CPP, or NBQX, but not Rem, blocked the development of behavioral sensitization to TDF specifically for vertical activity. Antagonists that blocked TDF vertical sensitization also attenuated the increase in extracellular DA turnover (homovanillic acid [HVA]/DA) normally associated with this behavioral response. Therefore, DA D1, NMDA and AMPA receptors appear to be necessary for the development of behavioral sensitization to TDF. As such, TDF may be considered an environmental risk factor for behavioral dysfunctions linked to glutamatergic and dopaminergic systems.

Cognitive tests: interpretation for neurotoxicity? (Workshop summary).

The appropriate use and interpretation of cognitive tests presents important challenges to the toxicologist and to the risk assessor. For example, intelligence cannot be measured directly; rather intelligence is quantified indirectly by scoring responses (i.e., behaviors) to specific situations (problems). This workshop, "Cognitive Tests: Interpretation for Neurotoxicity?" provided an overview on the types of cognitive tests available and described approaches by which the validity of such tests can be assessed. Unlike many tools available to the toxicologist, cognitive tests have a particular advantage. Being noninvasive and species-neutral, the same test can be performed in different mammalian species. This enhances one's ability to assess the validity of test results. Criteria for test validity include comparable responses across species as well as similar disruption by the same neurotoxicant across species. Test batteries, such as the Operant Test Battery, have indicated remarkable similarity between monkeys and children with respect to performance of certain tasks involving, for example, short-term memory. Still, there is a need for caution in interpretation of such tests. In particular, cognitive tests, especially when performed in humans, are subject to confounding by a range of factors, including age, gender, and, in particular, education. Moreover, the ability of such tests to reflect intelligence must be considered. Certain aspects of intelligence, such as the ability to plan or carry out specific tasks, are not well reflected by many of the standard tests of cognition. Nonetheless, although still under development, cognitive tests do hold promise for reliably predicting neurotoxicity in humans.

Prefrontal cortical manipulations alter the effects of intra-ventral striatal dopamine antagonists on fixed-interval performance in the rat.

The nature of the functional relationships between areas of prefrontal cortex and ventral striatum remain undefined. This study was designed to examine functional interactions between activity in two areas of prefrontal cortex, the prelimbic (PL) and agranular insular (AI) areas, and ventral striatal (VS) dopamine (DA) function. Interactions were assessed using a Fixed Interval (FI) schedule of reinforcement shown previously in our laboratory to be modulated by VS DA function. The study compared changes in FI performance following intra-VS DA antagonist injections alone (SCH23390 + eticlopride) to those observed when either saline or saline + lidocaine were injected into prefrontal cortex after the intra-VS DA antagonist injections. The intra-VS DA antagonists alone decreased FI response rates and increased postreinforcement pause times at both dose combinations (1/0.1 and 3/0.3 microg of SCH23390/eticlopride per side). Neither saline nor saline + lidocaine injected into the PL area of prefrontal cortex altered the effects of intra-VS DA antagonists on FI performance. Saline administration into the AI area of prefrontal cortex, however, eliminated the FI rate-decreasing effects of intra-VS DA antagonists. The agent or mechanism of this effect, whether it be saline, the act of inserting the cannulae into the cortical tissue, or the act of injecting fluid into this tissue, is not clear. This effect of AI saline was prevented by coadministration of lidocaine with saline into AI. These results, coupled with those from a previous experiment examining lesion effects in PL and AI on FI performance (Evans SB, Cory-Slechta DA. The effects of temporary lesions of the insular and medial prefrontal cortex on fixed-interval schedule-controlled behavior in the rat, Soc Neurosci Abstr 1996;22(1):159) suggest that PL might exert a tonic influence on VS DA function, since FI response rates gradually increase over a 2-week period following lesions of PL. In contrast, AI, although not normally modulating FI performance, can apparently influence VS DA function, possibly when alterations in activity are invoked in AI.