title: Neurobehavioral assessment following e-cigarette refill liquid exposure in adult rats.
abstract: The present study was conducted to assess the toxic effect of e-cigarette refill liquid on cognitive and motor functions in adult rats. Animals were administered 28 μl/kg of body weight of e-liquid with/without a dose of 0.5 mg of nicotine/kg of body weight, using the intraperitoneally route for a period of 4 weeks. They were then evaluated by novel object recognition test (NORT) and spontaneous alternation T-maze test for cognitive functions. Results indicated that e-liquid without nicotine induced, in the NORT, a decrease in time exploring the novel object during the test session and lower discrimination and recognition indexes compared to control and e-liquid with nicotine treated rats. Furthermore, short-term spatial memory was affected after e-liquid treatment in the spontaneous alternation T-maze test, identifying recognition memory impairments. However, none of the treatments altered motor functions assessed by inclined plane test, Kondziela's inverted screen test and weights test. Cell cytotoxicity assessment following e-liquid exposure showed a significant decrease in hippocampal cell viability, but no change in cortical cell viability. Thereby, e-liquid without nicotine causes cognitive impairments, especially on the hippocampus. Based on these results, more extensive assessments on e-cigarettes must be carried out.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, LMBA , El Manar University , Tunis , Tunisia.
authors.forename: Narges El
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Golli
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, LMBA , El Manar University , Tunis , Tunisia.
authors.forename: Yosra
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dallagi
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, LMBA , El Manar University , Tunis , Tunisia.
authors.forename: Dalila
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rahali
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, LMBA , El Manar University , Tunis , Tunisia.
authors.forename: Ines
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rejeb
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, LMBA , El Manar University , Tunis , Tunisia.
authors.forename: Saloua El
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Fazaa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects*; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects; D066300:Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D007274:Injections, Intraperitoneal; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000187:drug effects; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D009420:Nervous System / Q000187:drug effects*; D009538:Nicotine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity*; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000187:drug effects*; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D009538:Nicotine
keywords: Adult rat; cognitive impairments; e-liquid; neurotoxicity