Jamal Goran A, Hansen Stig, Julu Peter O O
Division of Neurosciences, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, University of London, London, UK.
Toxicology. 2002 Dec 27;181-182:23-33. doi: 10.1016/s0300-483x(02)00447-x.
A large number of published studies support the notion that long term, low level (LTLL) exposure to organophosphorus (OP) esters may cause neurological and neurobehavioral effects. In order to differentiate these from other effects of OP such as the acute cholinergic episodes, intermediate syndrome and organophosphate induced delayed neuropathy (OPIDN), the term Chronic Organophosphate Induced Neuropsychiatric Disorder (COPIND) will be used purely for the ease of reference. The question addressed in this particular review is whether LTLL exposure to OP may produce neurotoxicity. The profile and the degree of overlap of the various components of COPIND have been addressed elsewhere and description of the possible mechanisms for COPIND is outside the scope of this article. COPIND can be classified under two headings; those produced following one or more acute clinical cholinergic episodes, and those produced without such preceding attacks. With regards to the first group, there are a total of 11 studies, all of which support the existence of a positive link between exposure to OP and neurotoxicity; six of these studies comprise descriptions of large numbers of cases without controls while five additional studies employ controls. Appearance of neurotoxicity does not seem to be related to the number or the intensity of acute cholinergic attacks. With regards to the second group, three types of studies can be identified. Firstly, there are five studies using experimental animals, all of which showed a positive link between OP and neurotoxicity. Secondly, a total of seven case studies without controls, some involving large numbers of patients, concluded that there is a positive link between OP and neurotoxicity. Thirdly, 19 studies investigated such a link using cases and control groups. Of these, 15 studies (about 80%) showed a positive link and only four failed to identify any link between OP and neurotoxicity. Annotation of all the 19 studies according to ideal set of criteria showed that only a few of these comply with the rules of excellence and all of these few showed a positive link. Furthermore, the only study carried out blind without the identification of subjects or controls, showed a positive link between OP and neurotoxicity. This blind study estimated the overall incidence of a form of neurotoxicity in people exposed to OP to be about 40 times higher than in the general population. The type of neurological involvement was unique and different from OP induced syndromes previously described. The profile of the neurological involvement was similar to that in COPIND whether or not preceded by acute cholinergic episodes, thus providing further evidence that these two neuropathies probably share a similar mechanism. There is a characteristic pattern of involvement of 15 functional indices of the autonomic nervous system examined in our laboratory. There are, in addition, preferential anatomical sites of target organs affected, selective preservation of cholinergic function within the same neuropathy-positive site, and evidence of mal-function of cardiac chemoreceptors in patients exposed to OP. The peripheral nerve involvement in OP exposure is predominantly sensory in nature affecting both small and large fibre populations. Neurobehavioral involvement of mainly cognitive dysfunction and other features are also described in other studies. The weight of current evidence is therefore very much in favor of the motion that chronic low-level exposure to OP produces neurotoxicity. Criticisms levelled against this motion are unfounded and probably misconceived.
大量已发表的研究支持这样一种观点,即长期低水平(LTLL)接触有机磷(OP)酯可能会导致神经和神经行为方面的影响。为了将这些影响与OP的其他影响(如急性胆碱能发作、中间综合征和有机磷诱导的迟发性神经病(OPIDN))区分开来,术语“慢性有机磷诱导的神经精神障碍(COPIND)”将仅为方便参考而使用。本特定综述所探讨的问题是,长期低水平接触OP是否会产生神经毒性。COPIND各个组成部分的特征和重叠程度已在其他地方进行了探讨,而COPIND可能的机制描述不在本文范围内。COPIND可分为两类;一类是在一次或多次急性临床胆碱能发作后产生的,另一类是在没有此类先前发作的情况下产生的。关于第一组,共有11项研究,所有这些研究都支持接触OP与神经毒性之间存在正相关;其中六项研究包括大量无对照病例的描述,另外五项研究采用了对照。神经毒性的出现似乎与急性胆碱能发作的次数或强度无关。关于第二组,可以确定三种类型的研究。首先,有五项使用实验动物的研究,所有这些研究都表明OP与神经毒性之间存在正相关。其次,共有七项无对照的病例研究,其中一些涉及大量患者,得出结论认为OP与神经毒性之间存在正相关。第三点,19项研究使用病例和对照组调查了这种相关性。其中,15项研究(约80%)显示出正相关,只有四项未发现OP与神经毒性之间存在任何相关性。根据理想的标准对所有19项研究进行注释表明,其中只有少数符合卓越标准,而这少数所有研究都显示出正相关。此外,唯一一项在未识别受试者或对照的情况下进行的盲法研究,显示出OP与神经毒性之间存在正相关。这项盲法研究估计,接触OP的人群中某种形式神经毒性的总体发生率比普通人群高约40倍。神经受累的类型是独特的,与先前描述的OP诱导综合征不同。无论是否有急性胆碱能发作,神经受累的特征与COPIND中的相似,从而进一步证明这两种神经病可能具有相似的机制。在我们实验室检查的自主神经系统的15个功能指标存在一种特征性的受累模式。此外,存在受影响靶器官的优先解剖部位,在同一神经病阳性部位胆碱能功能有选择性保留,以及接触OP的患者心脏化学感受器功能异常的证据。OP暴露引起的周围神经受累主要是感觉性的,影响小纤维和大纤维群体。其他研究中也描述了主要为认知功能障碍和其他特征的神经行为受累情况。因此,目前的证据非常支持长期低水平接触OP会产生神经毒性这一观点。针对这一观点的批评是没有根据的,可能是误解。