Muscarinic receptor plasticity in the brain of senescent rats: down-regulation after repeated administration of diisopropyl fluorophosphate.

Potential age-related differences in the response of Fischer 344 rats to subchronic treatment with diisopropylfluorophosphate (DFP) were evaluated in terms of brain cholinesterase (ChE) inhibition and muscarinic receptor sites. Male 3- and 24-month old rats were sc injected with sublethal doses of DFP (first dose 1.6, subsequent doses 1.1 mg/kg on alternate days) for 2 weeks and killed 48 hrs after the last treatment. In the cerebral cortex, hippocampus and striatum of control rats a significant age-related reduction of ChE and of maximum number of 3H-QNB binding sites (Bmax) was observed. The administration of DFP to senescent rats resulted in more pronounced and longer lasting syndrome of cholinergic stimulation, with marked body weight loss and 60% mortality. The percentage inhibition of brain ChE induced by DFP (over 80% in all regions) did not differ between young and senescent rats. As expected, in young rats DFP caused a significant decrease of Bmax (without apparent changes in affinity), which in the cerebral cortex reached about 40%. In the surviving senescent rats, the percentage decrease of Bmax due to DFP with respect to age-matched controls was very similar to that of young animals, especially in the cerebral cortex. Thus, there is great variability in the response of aged rats to DFP treatment, from total failure of adaptive mechanisms resulting in death to considerable muscarinic receptor plasticity. The data support the view that the ability of central neurotransmitter systems to compensate for pathological or xenobiotic induced insult is an essential part of the aging process.