Morphological study of 5-HT neurons and astroglial cells on brain of adult rats perinatal or chronically exposed to 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid

G. Garcia, P. Tagliaferro, A. Bortolozzi, M. J. Madariaga, A. Brusco, A. M. Evangelista de Duffard, R. Duffard, J. Pecci Saavedra

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16 Scopus citations

Abstract

2,4-D is a chlorophenoxyherbicide used worldwide. We have studied the morphological alterations of 5-HT neurons and glial cells in the mesencephalic nuclei of adult rats exposed to 2,4-D both perinatally (during pregnancy and lactation) and chronically (during pregnancy, lactation and after weaning) with quantitative methods. Pregnant rats were daily exposed to 70 mg/kg of 2,4-D from gestation day (GD) 16 to post-natal day (PND) 23 through diet. After weaning, pups were assigned to one of two sub-groups: T1 (fed with untreated diet until PND 90) and T2 (maintained with 2,4-D diet until PND 90). Brain sections were immunocytochemically stained using polyclonal anti-5-HT, anti-GFAP and anti-S-100 protein antibodies as cells markers. 2,4-D exposure during pregnancy and lactancy (T1 group) produced an increase in 5-HT neuronal area and immunoreactivity (IR) in the mesencephalic nuclei studied. However, with the chronical 2,4-D exposure (T2 group) only the 5-HT neuronal area from the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) was increased, suggesting an adaptable response of 5-HT neurons in median raphe nucleus (MRN). The presence of reactive astrocytes in mesencephalic nuclei and in hippocampus were also different for the two 2,4-D exposure designs, showing the existence of a correspondence between neuronal changes and astrogliosis. Results support evidences that 2,4-D alters the serotoninergic system and that 5-HT neurons of each mesencephalic nuclei show different responses to the 2,4-D exposure designs which are parallel to astrogliosis.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)733-741
Number of pages9
JournalNeuroToxicology
Volume22
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 2001

Keywords

  • 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid
  • 5-HT neurons
  • Astroglial cells
  • Astroglial markers
  • Chronic exposure
  • Perinatal
  • Serotonin immunostaining

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