TY - JOUR
T1 - Perinatal methanol exposure in the rat. I. Blood methanol concentration and neural cell adhesion molecules
AU - Stern, Sander
AU - Reuhl, Kenneth
AU - Soderholm, Sidney
AU - Cox, Christopher
AU - Sharma, Archana
AU - Balys, Marlene
AU - Gelein, Robert
AU - Yin, Chun
AU - Weiss, Bernard
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding for this work was provided in part by Agreement 90-8 from the Health Effects Institute, B. Weiss, Principal Investigator, and by NIEHS Center Grant ES-01247. Additional support was provided by NIEHS Grant ES-04976, K. Reuhl, Principal Investigator. David Anderson provided valuable technical assistance while the exposure chamber was being established early in this project.
PY - 1996/11
Y1 - 1996/11
N2 - Although the acute toxicity of methanol is well documented, few studies have addressed the consequences of perinatal exposures to the low concentrations that are expected to arise from its proposed use as a component of automobile fuel. This report describes the general research design of a series of studies, the effects of methanol exposures on blood concentrations in dams and neonates, and indices of brain development. Four cohorts of Long-Evans pregnant rats, each cohort consisting of an exposure (n = 12) and a control (n = 12) group, were exposed whole-body to 4500 ppm methanol vapor or air for 6 hr daily beginning on Gestation Day 6. Both dams and pups were then exposed through Postnatal Day 21 (PND 21). Blood methanol concentrations determined by gas chromatography from samples obtained immediately following a 6-hr exposure reached approximately 500-800 μg/ml in the dams during gestation and lactation. Average concentrations for pups attained levels about twice those of the dams. Selected offspring from Cohort 4 were exposed for one additional 6-hr session at ages that extended out to PND 52. Regression analyses showed that the blood methanol concentrations of the pups declined until about PND 48, at which time their levels approximated those of their dams. Such pharmacokinetic differences might increase the risks posed to developing organisms. Light-microscopic analysis showed no significant abnormalities in the brains of the methanol-treated animals. However, assays of neural cell adhesion molecules (NCAMs) in brains of pups sacrificed on PND 4 showed staining for both the 140 and the 180 kDa isoforms to be less intense in the cerebellum of exposed animals. NCAM differences were not apparent in animals sacrificed 15 months after their final exposure.
AB - Although the acute toxicity of methanol is well documented, few studies have addressed the consequences of perinatal exposures to the low concentrations that are expected to arise from its proposed use as a component of automobile fuel. This report describes the general research design of a series of studies, the effects of methanol exposures on blood concentrations in dams and neonates, and indices of brain development. Four cohorts of Long-Evans pregnant rats, each cohort consisting of an exposure (n = 12) and a control (n = 12) group, were exposed whole-body to 4500 ppm methanol vapor or air for 6 hr daily beginning on Gestation Day 6. Both dams and pups were then exposed through Postnatal Day 21 (PND 21). Blood methanol concentrations determined by gas chromatography from samples obtained immediately following a 6-hr exposure reached approximately 500-800 μg/ml in the dams during gestation and lactation. Average concentrations for pups attained levels about twice those of the dams. Selected offspring from Cohort 4 were exposed for one additional 6-hr session at ages that extended out to PND 52. Regression analyses showed that the blood methanol concentrations of the pups declined until about PND 48, at which time their levels approximated those of their dams. Such pharmacokinetic differences might increase the risks posed to developing organisms. Light-microscopic analysis showed no significant abnormalities in the brains of the methanol-treated animals. However, assays of neural cell adhesion molecules (NCAMs) in brains of pups sacrificed on PND 4 showed staining for both the 140 and the 180 kDa isoforms to be less intense in the cerebellum of exposed animals. NCAM differences were not apparent in animals sacrificed 15 months after their final exposure.
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U2 - 10.1006/faat.1996.0173
DO - 10.1006/faat.1996.0173
M3 - Article
C2 - 8937890
AN - SCOPUS:26844456224
SN - 0272-0590
VL - 34
SP - 36
EP - 46
JO - Fundamental and Applied Toxicology
JF - Fundamental and Applied Toxicology
IS - 1
ER -