title: Effects of trimethyltin on hippocampal dopaminergic markers and cognitive behaviour.
abstract: The triorganotin compound trimethyltin (TMT) is a highly toxic molecule which has a great impact on human health. The aim of this study was to investigate the specific alteration of dopamine receptors and transporters in the hippocampus of TMT-treated rats. The TMT-treated group showed impaired spatial reference memory in a Morris water maze task compared to the control group, whereas memory consolidation tested 24 hours after the last training session was preserved. In the open field, TMT-treated rats showed a decrease in time spent in rearing episodes reflecting a lower interest to explore a novel environment. In the hippocampal area of the TMT-treated group, we observed a reduction in neuronal viability accompanied by a significant decrease in the expression of the dopamine receptors (D1 and D2), and dopamine transporters (DAT, VMAT1 and VMAT2). A less pronounced reduction was observed for D3 and D5 while D4 did not change. These data were confirmed by RT-PCR analysis. The present study on TMT-induced neurodegeneration highlights the link between hippocampal asset of dopamine receptors and transporters and the impaired performance of rats in a spatial reference memory task.
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, University of Camerino, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mignini
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nasuti
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Artico
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Giovannetti
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fabrizi
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fumagalli
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Iannetti
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pompili
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects*; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D011954:Receptors, Dopamine / Q000032:analysis; D014298:Trimethyltin Compounds / Q000633:toxicity*; D050493:Vesicular Monoamine Transport Proteins / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D011954:Receptors, Dopamine; C493454:Slc18a2 protein, rat; D014298:Trimethyltin Compounds; D050493:Vesicular Monoamine Transport Proteins; C046488:trimethyltin