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Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine, Vol. 152, No. 5, March, 2012 PHARMACOLOGY AND TOXICOLOGY
587
Effect of Chronic Inhalation of Toluene on Behaviorof Rats of Various Age Groups in Multi-Branched Maze
T. Z. Bikashvili, L. R. Chilachava, L. K. Gelazonia, N. J. Japaridze, M. G. Zhvania, T. G. Lordkipanidze, and V. G. Okuneva
Translated from Byulleten Eksperimentalnoi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 152, No. 11, pp. 518-520, November, 2011 Original article submitted May 31, 2010
The effect of a 40-day toluene inhalation on learning of young and adult rats was examined in a multi-branched maze. Experimental rats of both age groups needed more time to pass the maze and made more errors than controls. This impairment was observed in young rats immediately after termination of toluene inhalation and in adult rats immediately and 90 days after toluene.
Key Words: toluene chronic inhalation; maze; learning; rat
Xenobiotic toluene belongs to the most widely spread inhalants [5,8,12]. Even a short-term inhalation of toluene stimulates mesoaccumbens transmission by activation of dopaminergic neurons in ventral tegument, which relates toluene to addictive substances [11]. Chronic inhalation of toluene provokes disorders in emotional, motor, cognitive, and perceptual spheres. Cell sites and mechanisms mediating these disturbances are still unknown, but the inuence of toluene on dopamine-, GABA-, serotonin-, and cholinergic neurons is thought to play a role [9,10]. There are data that chronic inhalation of toluene produces a negative effect on memory and learning [3,4] and this effect depends, among other factors, on age [2,4].
Our aim was to examine the effect of toluene on young and adult rats in a multi-branched maze.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The experiments have been carried out on laboratory mature albino male rats; animal age at the start of the tests was 25 (group 1) and 90 days (group 2). The rats were daily (for 40 days) placed into a closed exsiccator lled with toluene vapor for 3-5 min until they fell on the side, which was assumed to be close to drug in-
toxication. The control group comprised age-matched rats maintained under standard vivarium conditions. Maze testing was started immediately or on day 90 after the end of inhalation period; 7...