PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Scremin, Oscar U.
AU  - Shih, Tsung-Ming
AU  - Huynh, Ly
AU  - Roch, Margareth
AU  - Booth, Ruth
AU  - Jenden, Donald J.
TI  - Delayed Neurologic and Behavioral Effects of Subtoxic Doses of Cholinesterase Inhibitors
AID  - 10.1124/jpet.102.044818
DP  - 2003 Mar 01
TA  - Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
PG  - 1111--1119
VI  - 304
IP  - 3
4099  - http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/304/3/1111.short
4100  - http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/304/3/1111.full
SO  - J Pharmacol Exp Ther2003 Mar 01; 304
AB  - We tested the hypothesis that pyridostigmine bromide (PB) intake and/or low-level sarin exposure, suggested by some as causes of the symptoms experienced by Persian Gulf War veterans, induce neurobehavioral dysfunction that outlasts their effects on cholinesterase. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were treated during 3 weeks with s.c. saline, PB in drinking water (80 mg/l), sarin (62.5 μg/kg; 0.5× LD50, three times/week s.c.), or PB in drinking water + sarin. Animals were tested for passive avoidance, nociceptive threshold, acoustic startle, and open field activity 2, 4, or 16 weeks after treatment. Two weeks after sarin, acoustic startle was enhanced, whereas distance explored in the open field decreased. These effects were absent with PB + sarin or PB by itself. No effect on any variable was found at 4 weeks, whereas at 16 weeks sarin induced a decrease and PB + sarin induced an increase in habituation in the open field test. Nociceptive threshold was elevated in the PB + sarin group at 16 weeks. No effect of treatment on passive avoidance was noted in any group. Brain regional acetylcholinesterase and cholineacetyltransferase activities were not affected at any time after treatment, but muscarinic receptors were down-regulated in hippocampus, caudate putamen, and mesencephalon in the sarin group at 2 weeks. In conclusion, this study gives further support to the use of PB against nerve agent poisoning and does not support the hypothesis that delayed symptoms experienced by Persian Gulf War veterans could be due to PB, alone or in association with low-level sarin exposure. The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics