Abstract:
The mechanization of agricultural activities has led to indiscriminate deposition of toxic xenobiotics, including organophosphates in the biomes, and this has led to intoxication
characterized with deleterious oxidative and neuronal changes. This study investigated the consequences of oxidative and neurogenic disruptions that follow exposure to two
organophosphates, chlorpyrifos (CPF) and dichlorvos (DDVP) on neuro-cognitive performance and anxiety-like behaviors in rats Thirty-two adult male Wistar rats (150 – 170g) were randomly
divided into 4 groups, orally exposed to normal saline (NS), DDVP (8.8mg/kg), CPF (14.9mg/kg) and DDVP+CPF for 14 consecutive days. On day 10 of exposures, anxiety-like behaviors andamygdala dependent fear learning were assessed using Open Field and Elevated Plus Maze paradigms respectively, while spatial working memory was assessed on day 14 in the Morris water maze paradigm, following 3 training trials each on days 11, 12 and 13. On day 15, the rats were
euthanized, and their brains excised, hippocampus and amygdala removed, 5 of which were
homogenized and centrifuged to analyze nitric oxide (NO) metabolites, total reactive oxygen
species (ROS), and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity, and the other three processed for histology
43 (cresyl violet stain) and proliferative marker (Ki67 immunohistochemistry). Marked (p≤0.05) loss in
44 body weight, AChE depletion, and overproduction of both NO and ROS were observed after
repeated exposure to individual and combined doses of CPF and DDVP. Insults from DDVP exposure appeared more severe owing to the observed greater losses in the body weights of exposed rats. There was also a significant (p≤0.05) effect on the cognitive behaviors recorded from
the exposed rats, and these deficits were related to the oxidative damage and neurogenic cell loss in
the hippocampus and the amygdala of the exposed rats. Taken together, these results provided an
Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 16 October 2018 doi:10.20944/preprints201810.0359.v1
© 2018 by the author(s). Distributed under a Creative Commons CC BY license.2 of 16
insight that oxidative and neurogenic damages are central to the severity of neuro-cognitive dysfunction and increased anxiety-like behaviors that follow organophosphate poisoning
