Effects of manganese chloride on the rat developing nervous system.

Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to sublethal doses of manganese chloride during their postnatal development period up to 44 days of age. They showed transient clinical signs of disease and a decreased homovanillic acid (HVA) content in the striatum and hypothalamus between 15 and 22 days of age. The manganese content in the brain was increased 20-40 times during this period as determined with neutron activation analyses. In spite of this no structural damage or signs of maturation disturbances in the nervous system were found. Interruption of manganese exposure reversed the changes in HVA content.