Acute effects of different types of anticholinesterase agents on the in vivo hippocampal population spike in rats

Papp, András and Nagymajtényi, László and Dési, Illés (1998) Acute effects of different types of anticholinesterase agents on the in vivo hippocampal population spike in rats. PESTICIDE BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY, 61 (1). pp. 21-26. ISSN 0048-3575

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Abstract

Organophosphates are anticholinesterase agents and are among the most used neurotoxic pesticides. Released into the environment, they can represent a major ecotoxicological and hygienic-toxicological hazard. If humans or animals are exposed to organophosphates, their nervous system will always be affected more or less seriously, but the mechanisms of neurotoxicity are, in numerous cases, not yet well known. In the present study, we investigated the effect of acute treatment with two organophosphates, dichlorvos and dimethoate, with physostigmine as reference anticholinesterase drug, and the influence of pretreatment with atropine on the hippocampal population spikes of rats in vivo under urethane anesthesia. It was found that the organophosphates and physostigmine exerted very similar effects on the population Spikes (a phenomenon with well-described cholinergic modulation): each drug induced a significant amplitude increase. Atropine, a muscarinic antagonist, had the opposite effect alone and abolished the existing effect of the organophosphates or of physostigmine. It was concluded that the effect of the tested anticholinesterase agents on the hippocampal population spike includes a cholinergic mechanism.

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