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Updated: Sep 7, 2025
An Assay for Measuring the Effects of Ethanol on the Locomotion Speed of Caenorhabditis elegans
Published on: April 9, 2015
Developmental lead exposure affects dopaminergic neuron morphology and modifies basal slowing response in
Paula A Albrecht1, Lucia E Fernandez-Hubeid1, Romina Deza-Ponzio1
1Instituto de Farmacología Experimental de Córdoba-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Técnicas (IFEC-CONICET) and Departamento de Farmacología Otto Orsingher, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, X5000HUA Córdoba, Argentina.
Abstract:
Lead (Pb) and ethanol (EtOH) are neurotoxicants that affect the dopaminergic (DAergic) system. We first sought to assess the morphology of the DAergic neurons in the Caenorhabditis elegans BY200 strain. The results demonstrated dose-dependent damage in these neurons induced by developmental Pb exposure. Secondly, transgenic worms exposed to 24 μM Pb and administered with 200 mM EtOH were evaluated in the basal slowing response (BSR). Pb induced impairment in the BSR in the wild-type strain that did not improve in response to EtOH, an effect also observed in strains that lack the DOP-1, DOP-2, and DOP-3 receptors. The animals that overexpress tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), or lack the vesicular transport (VMAT) showed a Pb-induced impairment in the BSR that seemed to improve after EtOH. Interestingly, a dramatic impairment in the BSR was observed in the Pb group in strains lacking the DOP-4 receptor, resembling the response of the TH-deficient strain, an effect that in both cases showed a non-significant reversal by EtOH. These results suggest that the facilitatory effect of EtOH on the impaired BSR observed in Pb-exposed null mutant strains may be the result of a compensatory effect in the altered DAergic synapse present in these animals.
