Modulation of behavior and NMDA-R1 gene mRNA expression in adult female mice after sub-acute administration of benzo(a)pyrene.
The behavioral performances of adult mice exposed to sub-acute doses of benzo(a)pyrene (B(a)P) were monitored in tests related to learning and memory (Y maze and Morris water maze), locomotor activity (open-field test) and motor coordination (Locotronic apparatus). At low doses (0.02 and 0.2mg/kg), B(a)P impaired short-term learning and spatial memory performance in the Y maze and in the Morris water maze tests. Surprisingly, in the Y maze, the performances of animals exposed to the highest dose of B(a)P (200mg/kg) were quite similar to those of control animals. Hyperactivity/hyperarousal observed in both tests at this dose and attributed to an anxiolytic-like effect of B(a)P may have blurred the learning deficit in these mice faced with a new situation. These deficits seem to be unrelated to motor impairments because B(a)P had no effect on locomotor activity and motor coordination. We demonstrated that sub-acute exposure to B(a)P in adult mice also modulates gene expression of NMDA-R1 subunit in brain areas highly involved in cognitive function like the hippocampus, suggesting a relationship between the expression of functional NMDA-R1 mRNA, impairment of short-term and spatial memory and the B(a)P exposure levels.
Grova
Nathalie
N
Institute of Immunology, Laboratoire National de Santé, 20A rue Auguste Lumière, L-1011 Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
Valley
Anne
A
Turner
Jonathan D
JD
Morel
Andrée
A
Muller
Claude P
CP
Schroeder
Henri
H
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects*; D001564:Benzo(a)pyrene / Q000633:toxicity*; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D001923:Brain Chemistry / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000187:drug effects; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
D001564:Benzo(a)pyrene; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate