Effect of thimerosal on the neurodevelopment of premature rats.
BACKGROUND
This study was undertaken to determine the effect of thimerosal on the neurodevelopment of premature rats.


METHODS
Thimerosal was injected into premature SD rats at a dose of 32.8, 65.6, 98.4 or 131.2 μg/kg on postnatal day 1. Expression of dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) and serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR), apoptosis in the prefrontal cortex on post-injection day 49, and learning and memory function were studied and compared with those in a control group injected with saline.


RESULTS
Expression of DRD4 and 5-HT2AR and learning function decreased, and apoptosis increased significantly in the 131.2 μg/kg group (P<0.001). Memory function was significantly impaired by 65.6 (P<0.05), 98.4 and 131.2 μg/kg (P<0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
The negative adverse consequences on neurodevelopment observed in the present study are consistent with previous studies; this study raised serious concerns about adverse neurodevelopmental disorder such as autism in humans following the ongoing worldwide routine administration of thimerosalcontaining vaccines to infants.
The Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of Ministry of Education, and Institute of Biomedical Engineering, School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China.
Yan-Ni
YN
Chen
Jue
J
Wang
Jie
J
Zhang
Su-Jiao
SJ
Li
Li
L
He
Dong-Dong
DD
Shao
Hui-Ying
HY
Du
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007267:Injections; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects*; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000378:metabolism; D011310:Preservatives, Pharmaceutical / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D044402:Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2A / Q000378:metabolism; D050638:Receptors, Dopamine D4 / Q000378:metabolism; D013849:Thimerosal / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*
C493601:Drd4 protein, rat; D011310:Preservatives, Pharmaceutical; D044402:Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2A; D050638:Receptors, Dopamine D4; D013849:Thimerosal