Machnik Peter, Schuster Stefan
Department of Animal Physiology, University of Bayreuth, D-95440 Bayreuth, Germany.
Molecules. 2021 Nov 17;26(22):6935. doi: 10.3390/molecules26226935.
Modern societies use a continuously growing number of chemicals. Because these are released into the environment and are taken up by humans, rigorous (but practicable) risk assessment must precede the approval of new substances for commerce. A number of tests is applicable, but it has been very difficult to efficiently assay the effect of chemicals on communication and information processing in vivo in the adult vertebrate brain. Here, we suggest a straightforward way to rapidly and accurately detect effects of chemical exposure on action potential generation, synaptic transmission, central information processing, and even processing in sensory systems in vivo by recording from a single neuron. The approach is possible in an identified neuron in the hindbrain of fish that integrates various sources of information and whose properties are ideal for rapid analysis of the various effects chemicals can have on the nervous system. The analysis uses fish but, as we discuss here, key neuronal functions are conserved and differences can only be due to differences in metabolism or passage into the brain, factors that can easily be determined. Speed and efficiency of the method, therefore, make it suitable to provide information in risk assessment, as we illustrate here with the effects of bisphenols on adult brain function.
现代社会使用的化学品数量持续增加。由于这些化学品会释放到环境中并被人类吸收，因此在新物质获得商业批准之前，必须进行严格（但可行）的风险评估。有多种测试方法可用，但要在成年脊椎动物大脑中有效地检测化学品对通信和信息处理的影响一直非常困难。在此，我们提出一种直接的方法，通过从单个神经元进行记录，能够快速、准确地检测化学暴露对动作电位产生、突触传递、中枢信息处理乃至体内感觉系统处理的影响。这种方法适用于鱼类后脑的一个已识别神经元，该神经元整合各种信息源，其特性非常适合快速分析化学品对神经系统可能产生的各种影响。虽然该分析使用的是鱼类，但正如我们在此所讨论的，关键的神经元功能是保守的，差异只能归因于新陈代谢或进入大脑的过程中的差异，而这些因素很容易确定。因此，该方法的速度和效率使其适合在风险评估中提供信息，我们在此以双酚对成体脑功能的影响为例进行说明。
