Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.
Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA; Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA; Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute for Child & Family Development, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA; Center for Urban Responses to Environmental Stressors, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.
Neurotoxicol Teratol. 2022 May-Jun;91:107076. doi: 10.1016/j.ntt.2022.107076. Epub 2022 Feb 12.
Environmental exposure to toxicants is a major health issue and a leading risk factor for premature mortality worldwide, including environmental exposures to volatile organic compounds (VOCs), specifically Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylene (BTEX). While exposure to these compounds individually has shown behavioral and neurochemical effects, this investigation examined the impact of exposure to combined BTEX using a preclinical model. Male Swiss Webster mice were exposed to BTEX vapors designed to approximate environmental levels in urban communities. Animals were exposed to one of four treatment conditions: a 0-ppm (air control), two BTEX groups representing levels of environmental-like exposure, and a fourth group modeling occupational-like exposure. These exposures were conducted in 1.5-h sessions, 2 sessions/day, 5 days/week, for 3 weeks. Effects on coordination (i.e., rotarod and inverted screen test), learning and memory (i.e., Y-maze), and locomotor behavior (i.e., movement during exposure) were assessed during and after exposure. Monoamine levels in the medial prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens were assessed immediately following exposure. Effects of BTEX exposure were found on the variance of locomotor activity but not in other behavioral or neurochemical assessments. These results indicate that the combination of inhaled BTEX at environmentally representative concentrations has demonstrable, albeit subtle, effects on behavior.
环境暴露于有毒物质是一个主要的健康问题，也是全球范围内导致过早死亡的主要风险因素之一，包括接触挥发性有机化合物（VOCs），特别是苯、甲苯、乙苯和二甲苯（BTEX）。虽然单独接触这些化合物已经显示出行为和神经化学效应，但这项研究使用临床前模型检查了暴露于组合 BTEX 的影响。雄性瑞士 Webster 小鼠暴露于设计成近似于城市社区环境水平的 BTEX 蒸气中。动物暴露于四种处理条件之一：0 ppm（空气对照）、两个代表环境暴露水平的 BTEX 组和第四个模拟职业暴露水平的组。这些暴露在 1.5 小时的会议中进行，每天 2 次会议，每周 5 天。在暴露期间和之后评估协调（即旋转轮和倒置屏幕测试）、学习和记忆（即 Y 迷宫）以及运动行为（即暴露期间的运动）。暴露后立即评估中前额叶皮层和伏隔核中的单胺水平。发现 BTEX 暴露对运动活动的方差有影响，但对其他行为或神经化学评估没有影响。这些结果表明，吸入环境代表性浓度的 BTEX 组合对行为有明显但细微的影响。
