The Ability of PAS, Acetylsalicylic Acid and Calcium Disodium EDTA to Protect Against the Toxic Effects of Manganese on Mitochondrial Respiration in Gill of Crassostrea virginica.

Manganese (Mn) is an essential metal that at excessive levels in brain causes Manganism, a condition similar to Parkinson's disease. Previously we showed that Mn had a neurotoxic effect on the dopaminergic, but not serotonergic, innervation of the lateral ciliated cells in the gill of the Eastern Oyster, Crassostrea virginica. While the mechanism of action of Mn toxicity is not completely understood, studies suggest that Mn toxicity may involve mitochondrial damage and resulting neural dysfunction in the brain's dopaminergic system. In this study we utilized micro-batch chambers and oxygen probes to measure oyster gill mitochondrial respiration in the presence of Mn and potential Mn blockers. The addition of Mn to respiring mitochondria caused a dose dependent decrease in mitochondrial O(2) consumption. Pretreating mitochondria with calcium disodium EDTA (caEDTA), p aminosalicylic acid (PAS) or acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) before Mn additions, provided full protection against the toxic effects of Mn. While mitochondrial pretreatment with any of the 3 drugs effectively blocked Mn toxicity, none of the drugs tested was able to reverse the decrease in mitochondrial O(2) consumption seen in Mn treated mitochondria. The study found that high levels of Mn had a toxic effect on gill mitochondrial O(2) consumption and that this effect could be blocked by the drugs caEDTA, PAS and ASA. C. virginica continues to be a good model with which to investigate the mechanism that underlies manganese neurotoxcity and in the pharmacological study of drugs to treat or prevent Manganism.