Chronic effects of perchloroethylene and trichloroethylene on the gerbil brain amino acids and glutathione
Briving, C.; Jacobson, I.; Hamberger, A.; Kjellstrand, P.; Haglid, K.G.; Rosengren, L.E.
Neurotoxicology 7(1): 101-108
1986
ISSN/ISBN: 0161-813X PMID: 2872637 Document Number: 281630
Mongolian gerbils were exposed for 12 months to trichloroethylene (TCE) 50 or 150 ppm or perchloroethylene (PCE) 120 ppm. Vermis posterior of cerebellum and hippocampus were used for measurement of high-affinity uptake and release of 3H-.gamma.-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and 14C-glutamate, as well as for determination of total free tissue amino acids and glutathione. Glutathione was significantly elevated in the hippocampus of animals exposed to 150 ppm of TCE. Levels of amino acids were not appreciably affected. After PCE exposure, 120 ppm for 12 months, taurine significantly decreased in the hippocampus and even more in the posterior part of the cerebellar vermis. Glutamine was elevated in the hippocampus. No other significant changes in amino acids of glutathione were observed. After exposing the animals to TCE (50 and 150 ppm) for 12 months, the accumulation of glutamate by the posterior part of the cerebellar vermis increased in a dose-dependent manner, but no significant changes were observed in the hippocampus. The uptake of glutamate and GABA in cerebellum and hippocampus were unaffected after PCE exposure to 120 ppm for 12 months. The potassium-stimulated release of glutamate and GABA was unaffected in hippocampal tissue slices from gerbils exposed to 50 and 150 ppm TCE.