Behavioral evidence for modified receptor sensitivity in rat brain induced by methyl bromide exposure

To clarify the neurochemical basis of methyl bromide toxicity in rats, we measured changes in the sensitivity of cerebral monoamine, dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE) receptors, using abnormal behavior and locomotor activity as indicators of receptor sensitivity. Apomorphine and clonidine were used as specific agonists of DA (D1 and D2) and NE (alpha 2) receptors, respectively. In the first experiment, rats were exposed to methyl bromide gas at 25-200 ppm for 8hr once or to methyl bromide at 5-50 ppm 8hr a day for 7 days. The intensity of stereotyped oral (STO) behavior produced by an injection of apomorphine, 0.5 mg/kg i.p., was rated over the following 28 days. The STO behavior of rats exposed to methyl bromide (MB rats) was much more intense than in air-exposed (control) rats. This finding strongly suggests that the sensitivity of striatal DA, D1 and D2, receptors to apomorphine was increased by methyl bromide exposure. In the second experiment, rats were exposed to 50 ppm methyl bromide for 8hr once or to 10-50 ppm methyl bromide 8hr a day for 7 days. Seven days after the final exposure, rats were injected with a small dose of apomorphine, 0.3 mg/kg i.p., and the counts of apomorphine-induced locomotor activity (ALA) were recorded. The ALA counts of MB rats were markedly higher than in the control rats. This finding suggests that the DA receptors in the nucleus accumbens of MB rats are more sensitive to apomorphine than those of control rats. In the third experiment, rats were exposed to 50 ppm methyl bromide, 8hr a day for one day or 7 consecutive days, and the degree of attenuation of locomotor activity following clonidine injection (CLA) was rated. CLA counting was performed 7 days after the final exposure. CLA counts in MB rats were not attenuated as much as in the control rats. This indicates that the cerebral NE receptors, i.e., alpha 2-adrenoceptors, of MB rats may be less sensitive to clonidine than those of control rats. Increased behavioral sensitivity to apomorphine was observed in rats even when exposed to 5 ppm (TLV) methyl bromide.