Neonatal triethyltin exposure alters adult electrophysiology in rats

In adults, triethyltin (TET) produces degeneration of white matter, edema, vacuolization on myelin and histotoxic hypoxia. To determine the functional consequences of perinatal exposure to TET, albino rats were administered either 0, 3, 6, or 9 mg/kg TET on postnatal day 5. Upon reaching adulthood, the rats were implanted with electrodes for recording visual evoked potentials (VEPs) and hippocampal afterdischarges (ADs). In addition to these tests, 17 days of kindling trials were administered to the rats followed by testing with pentylenetetrazol and picrotoxin for seizure susceptibility. TET increased latencies of P2, P3, and N3 of the VEP in a dose dependent fashion. TET also decreases N1P2 amplitudes and produced gender-specific alterations in both P1, N1, and N2 latencies and N2P3 amplitudes. TET produced alterations in duration of the AD recorded from cortex during kindling, but did not produce significant alterations in any of the other variables tested. The results support previous studies, since they show that the adult VEP is sensitive to perinatal toxicant exposure.