Impaired nerve function in rats after prolonged exposure to vinyltoluene.
Sixty male Wistar rats were exposed to vinyltoluene at 50, 100, or 300 ppm solvent concentrations 6 h daily, 5 days a week for up to 15 weeks. 20 control rats were similarly sham-exposed. Motor conduction velocity of the tail nerve decreased significantly after exposure for 12 weeks to 100 or 300 ppm and the amplitude of the evoked motor action potential decreased also. Two small protein fractions appeared in the electrophoretograms of the exposed axons at the end of the experiment. Electrophysiological changes typical of axonal degeneration and a change in the axonal proteins coincided in rats exposed to 100 or 300 ppm of vinyltoluene, while exposure to 50 ppm had no electrophysiological effects.
D000818:Animals; D004594:Electrophysiology; D008297:Male; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced*; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013343:Styrenes / Q000633:toxicity*; D013997:Time Factors
D013343:Styrenes; C027142:vinyltoluene