Hippocampal mossy fiber pathway development in normal and postnatally lead-exposed rats

Effects of lead on long-term potentiation in hippocampal CA3 vary with age

The effects of lead on long-term potentiation (LTP) in the hippocampal area CA3 were different in 30-day (P30) and 60-day-old (P60) rats upon either acute perfusion of lead to the isolated brain slice from controls or when recorded from slices from rats after chronic developmental exposure to lead. Lead caused a significant inhibition of LTP in 30-day CA3, and a significant potentiation in 60-day CA3 with either exposure paradigm. Consistent with the effects on LTP, lead inhibits phorbol ester-induced synaptic potentiation in 30-day rats and enhances phorbol ester-induced potentiation in 60-day rats. Protein kinase C (PKC) has been implicated in actions of lead but previous investigations have reported either a stimulation or a blockade of PKC by lead. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that the effects of lead on LTP are mediated via an action on PKC, which varies with age.

Developmental lead exposure disturbs expression of synaptic neural cell adhesion molecules in herring gull brains

Neurobehavioral testing of herring gull chicks (Larus argentatus) in both laboratory and field studies indicates that lead exposure during critical periods of development causes neurological deficits that may compromise survival in the wild. Accumulating evidence suggests that lead impairs neurodevelopment, in part, by altering the expression of cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) responsible for the proper formation and maintenance of neural structure and synaptic function. We examined the adhesion molecules NCAM, L1, and N-cadherin in gull brains to determine whether these CAMs are altered by lead exposure and might serve as markers of developmental neurotoxicity. One-day-old chicks were collected from nesting colonies and were laboratory housed. On post-hatching day (PHD) 2, chicks were given 100 mg/kg lead acetate or saline (intraperitoneally). Birds were killed on PHD 34, 44, or 55 (blood-lead levels averaged 27.4, 20.8, and 19.5 microg/dl, respectively). Brains were removed and stored at -70 degrees C until analysis. Expression of CAMs was determined in synaptosomal preparations by Western blotting and the activity of NCAM-associated sialyltransferase (ST) was determined in purified whole brain golgi apparatus. Elevation in synaptosomal polysialylated NCAM expression and a significant increase in golgi ST activity was observed in lead-treated animals at PHD 34. Reductions in synaptosomal N-cadherin were observed at PHD 34 and 44, while L1 expression appeared unaffected by lead at any time-point. By 55 days post-hatching, no differences in N-cadherin expression, polysialylated NCAM expression or NCAM-associated ST activity were seen in lead-treated animals as compared with age-matched control animals. Lead-induced disruption of CAM expression during early neurodevelopment may contribute to behavioral deficits observed in herring gulls in both the laboratory and the field, and may serve as a marker for heavy metal exposure during postnatal development.

Altered sensitivity to NMDA following developmental lead exposure in rats

Early Pb exposure is known to disrupt the development of the hippocampus and result in deficits in learning and memory capacities and altered seizure susceptibility. The excitatory amino acid, NMDA, is found in high concentrations in the hippocampus and has been implicated in learning and memory functions and seizure activity. Rat pups nursed mothers exposed to high (4%), moderate (0.4%), or low (0.05%) levels of PbCO3 in their diet, or a Na2CO3 control diet from postnatal day 1 (P1) to P25. Rat pups were injected with varying doses of NMDA on P15 or P25. Control animals showed a characteristic slowly developing response to NMDA, usually including tail twitches and wet dog shakes at approximately 10 and 40 mg/kg at P15 and P25, respectively, with status epilepticus and death occurring at 40 and 80 mg/kg. Lead-exposed animals displayed an altered sensitivity to NMDA, with high and medium Pb animals showing the onset of behavioral signs and death at lower NMDA doses, the degree of which being dependent on the level of Pb exposure. Low Pb-exposed animals showed a more variable and attenuated response to NMDA. The data are discussed in terms of the possible mechanisms of Pb neurotoxicity.

Effect of low-level body burdens of lead on the mental development of children: limitations of meta-analysis in a review of longitudinal data

The effect of low-level body burdens of lead on the intelligence of children, as measured by intelligence quotient (IQ), was assessed. We reviewed 35 reports from five longitudinal studies conducted in the United States and Australia. In each of these studies, infants were followed for 58 mo or less. The study populations consisted of low- and middle-socioeconomic-class infants who had low-level exposure to environmental lead. Blood-lead levels were measured in a standard fashion at various times, beginning in the prenatal period, and intelligence was first measured at 6 mo of age and was followed by subsequent assessments. Studies were assessed for quality by a review panel blinded to the identity of the investigators and their affiliations. Efforts were made to pool the data with meta-analytic techniques, but efforts were unsuccessful because the methods used to analyze and report data were inconsistent. Inconsistencies were as follows: (a) there were few instances in which IQ and blood-lead levels were measured at comparable times in different studies; (b) incompatibilities existed among the studies, including differences in independent variables, data transformations, and statistical parameters reported; (c) results conflicted when measurement intervals were comparable (i.e., heterogeneity); (d) patterns of regression and correlation coefficients were inconsistent; and (e) data were insufficient to interconvert the parameters reported. Consequently, definitive conclusions regarding the effect of low-level body burdens of lead on IQ could not be determined from the longitudinal data. Examination of the weight of the evidence from this and other studies, however, suggests an adverse relationship of lead on the intelligence of children.

A morphometric analysis of trimethyltin-induced change in rat brain using the Timm technique

Rats were given a single gavage of trimethyltin chloride (TMT) providing a dose of 0, 4.3, or 6.7 mg/kg of alkyltin. Gross changes in brain structures were quantified and analyzed statistically. Behavioral and functional measures were taken to verify efficacy of TMT dose. The high dose produced transient weight loss and seizures. In the fourth week after gavage, the high dose produced hyperactivity in the residential maze and activity wheel. High and low TMT doses decreased auditory startle responsiveness. Estrus cycle was normal in all groups. Brains were sectioned and stained with the Timm stain which delimited subregions of hippocampus and connected structures and also revealed mossy fibers. Linear and areal measures were made at three positions along the septotemporal axis of Ammon's horn. The low dose produced reductions in size in a few isolated subareas of the brain. The high dose produced, at the three planes studied, extensive (15-40%) loss of tissue in Ammon's horn and structures to which Ammon's horn is interconnected--subiculum, entorhinal cortex, dentate gyrus, hilus, CA3, and CA1 region. Neocortex and caudate-putamen were unaffected. These findings suggest that a single TMT gavage may disrupt brain structures important to linking neocortex with subcortex via structures in the hippocampal region.

Developmental exposure to organic lead causes permanent hippocampal damage in Fischer-344 rats

The long-term consequences of neonatal exposure to triethyl lead, the putative neurotoxic metabolite of the anti-knock gasoline additive tetraethyl lead, were examined with respect to central nervous system (CNS) development. We presently report a series of studies in which exposure of neonatal rats to organic lead produces profound CNS damage in adulthood as indicated by dose-dependent, persistent behavioral hyperreactivity as well as dose-dependent, preferential, and permanent damage to the hippocampus. General morphological parameters of brain development were not altered. Pharmacological probes of neurotransmitter system integrity suggested a functional and dose-dependent relationship between this behavioral hyperreactivity and hippocampal damage via cholinergic, but not dopaminergic, pathways. Furthermore, these alterations were not accompanied by long-term alterations in motor activity and were not attributable to the presence of lead in adult neural tissue. Finally, these behavioral, anatomical, and pharmacological indices of developmental exposure to organic lead were dissociable from any effects of early undernutrition. These data collectively indicate that organolead compounds may pose a potent neurotoxic threat to the developing CNS.

Effect of low-dose lead acetate exposure on the metabolism of nucleic acids and lipids in cerebellum and hippocampus of rat during postnatal development

Postnatal exposure (from the second day after birth to 30 days) of rat pups to low levels of lead acetate (50 mg/kg body weight/day), administered by gastric intubation, yielded a maximum blood level of 76.1 micrograms/100 ml, at day 15 of age. Cerebellar and hippocampal lead contents were 8.67 micrograms/100 mg and 11.7 micrograms/100 mg, respectively, at day 30 of age. This lead exposure has been shown to elicit little change in some biochemical parameters in cerebellum and hippocampus. At the three ages investigated (5, 15, and 30 days after birth) there were no alterations of body weight; brain, cerebellum, and hippocampus wet weight; and DNA, RNA, protein and phospholipid content, either in total tissue or in mitochondria. A similar invariance following lead exposure was observed in mitochondrial succinate dehydrogenase and cytochrome oxidase activities. After intraperitoneal administration, the incorporation of [methyl-14C]thymidine into DNA and [5,6-3H]uridine into RNA of cerebellum and hippocampus showed a significant decrease only at day 5, reaching the control value at 15 and 30 days of age. After intraperitoneal injection, [2-3H]glycerol incorporation into total lipids and phospholipids of cerebellum and hippocampus also showed no significant changes in Pb-treated pups compared to controls at all three postnatal ages. We concluded that subclinical lead administration exerts its effect by slowing cell proliferation in the very early growth phase of the brain. It is likely that a metabolic compensative response to subtoxic effect of lead acetate may be brought about in cerebellum and hippocampus during critical phases of nervous system development between days 15 and 30.

Organic and inorganic lead inhibit neurite growth in vertebrate and invertebrate neurons in culture

Neurons from brains of chick embryos and pond snails (Lymnaea stagnalis) were cultured for 3 to 4 d in the presence of no toxins, inorganic lead (PbCl2), or organic lead (triethyl lead chloride). In chick neurons, inorganic lead reduced the percentage of cells that grew neurites (IC50 = 270 microM total lead, approximately 70 nM free Pb2+) but did not reduce the number of neurites per cell or the mean neurite length. Triethyl lead reduced the percentage of cells that grew neurites (IC50 = 0.24 microM) and the mean neurite length (extrapolated IC50 = 3.6 microM) but did not reduce the number of neurites per cell. In Lymnaea neurons, inorganic lead reduced the percentage of cells that grew neurites (IC50 = 13 microM total lead; approximately 10 nM free Pb2+). Triethyl lead reduced the percentage of cells that grew neurites (IC50 = 0.4 microM) and exerted significant toxicity at 0.2 microM. The two forms of lead affected neurite growth in qualitatively different ways, which suggests that their mechanisms of action are different.

Significance of hippocampal dysfunction in low level lead exposure of rats

Previous reports have suggested a relationship between the neurotoxicity of lead and hippocampal dysfunction. Therefore, a comparison between the behavioral changes induced by lead exposure and by selective destruction of hippocampal neurons should help to clarify whether the intrinsic neurons of the hippocampus are directly influenced by lead. Rats maternally and permanently exposed to lead (750 ppm in the diet as lead acetate) were tested in a radial arm maze and compared with controls and rats with ibotenic acid-induced neuronal depletion in the dorsal hippocampus. Lead-exposed groups showed an impairment in the acquisition performance of the spatial task while hippocampally damaged animals did not. When they were retested 4 weeks after the end of the original acquisition, both groups of lead-exposed and ibotenic acid-treated rats showed a significant deficit in retention. These results suggest that this deficit produced by lead can be due to the damage of the hippocampal neurons but not the impairment observed in the acquisition. We propose that the neurotoxicity of lead is not entirely due to the dysfunction of the dorsal hippocampus and that other areas of the brain should be considered. Both maternally and permanently lead-exposed rats showed a similar degree of deficit in acquisition and retention, suggesting a long-lasting effect of early lead exposure.

Long-term behavioral and electrophysiological changes associated with lead exposure at different stages of brain development in the rat

The present investigation was conducted to assess the behavioral and electrophysiological impairments exhibited by adult male rats as a function of the developmental stage during which lead exposure occurred. Dams were given either a lead acetate (0.3%) or a control drinking solution during days 16-23 of gestation, days 1-8 or days 9-16 of nursing. The temporal and spatial activity patterns exhibited by gestationally exposed offspring in the open field between 42-45 days of age was distinguished from all other groups by the absence of a decrement in peripheral field activity across days and by increased exploration of the center field. Although open field activity proved sensitive to the timing of lead exposure, power spectral analyses of hippocampal and cortical EEG activity at 70-72 days of age revealed that lead selectively depressed 6-7 Hz energy in the hippocampus, independent of the developmental stage of exposure; cortical EEG and other hippocampal theta frequencies were unaffected. The differential sensitivity of open field activity and select hippocampal theta frequencies to the timing of lead administration suggests that the identification of toxic consequences depends on the function assessed and the developmental stage during which lead exposure occurred.

Lead, age and aggression in male mice

The impact of eleven weeks of ingestion of a 0.5% lead acetate solution on agonistic behavior of male Binghamton Heterogeneous stock mice (either 120 or 660 days of age) was examined. Similar aged mice were paired for aggression testing. Not surprisingly, younger mice, regardless of fluid history fought more vigorously than older mice. However, when mice of similar fluid history were paired together, lead ingestion decreased the latency to fight only in older mice. Regardless of their prior fighting history, when lead treated mice fought similar aged controls, the lead exposed mice in younger pairs were typically subordinate; but in older pairs, lead exposed mice were dominant. These results, coupled with extant literature concerning age-related changes in endocrine function, pituitary-adrenal activity, and lead-induced changes in hippocampal function suggest that future work directed at mechanism(s) underlying lead-induced alterations in agonistic behavior should consider life span changes in biobehavioral profiles.

Morphometric effects of exposure to lead during the preweaning period on the hippocampal formation of aging rats

Our previous morphologic studies in the rat demonstrated that exposure to lead during the preweaning period induced delays in the maturation of late-developing regions of the hippocampal formation at 15 days of age, followed by normal development or hypertrophy of the same areas in young adulthood. The present study was carried out to determine whether or not subtle or latent effects of such exposure to lead may be unmasked with the additional challenge of aging. To do this, mid-dorsal sections of the hippocampal formation from middle-aged (578-631 days old) Long-Evans control rats and from rats exposed to lead from birth until weaning via dams drinking 0.2% lead acetate were analyzed by light and electron microscopy. Exposure to lead did not alter areas of either neuropil or neuronal layers of the hippocampus or the dentate gyrus or the numbers per section or numerical densities (numbers per unit area) of neurons in hippocampal CA3 stratum pyramidale or dentate stratum granulosum. It did reduce mean size of complex invaginated mossy fiber synapses without altering their numbers in the proximal (close to dentate gyrus) mossy fiber zone, which was the zone also affected at 15 and 90 days of age in our previous studies.

Perturbation of a hippocampal zinc-binding pool after postnatal lead exposure in rats

Morphologic alterations of the hippocampal mossy fiber pathway after postnatal lead exposure have been observed in rats. It is hypothesized that lead might perturb zinc pools found in this pathway. To test this hypothesis, rat pups were exposed to lead indirectly by administering 0.2% lead acetate to dams via the drinking water during lactation for 21 days and control litters were maintained on tap water. To evaluate whether or not the effects of postnatal lead exposure were selective for hippocampal zinc pools, the hippocampus was compared with the cerebellum. There were no significant differences between lead-treated and control rats in total zinc content in either the hippocampus or the cerebellum in rats at 30 and 90 days of age. Furthermore, no differences in the subcellular distribution of zinc were observed between control and lead-treated animals. Because the effects on zinc content may be more subtle, the amounts of cytosolic zinc-binding species, isolated using Ultrogel AcA 34 gel chromatography, were measured in control and lead-treated animals. A striking decrease was observed in the amount of zinc associated with one of the cytosolic zinc-binding species, a putative zinc-glutathione complex, shown in previous studies to be the major hippocampal zinc pool. This effect was observed only in the hippocampus of 30-day-old lead-treated rats. By 90 days of age, the effect was no longer present. These data suggest that lead preferentially affects a zinc pool found in the hippocampus and supports our hypothesis that postnatal lead exposure results in an alteration in hippocampal zinc.

Spectral analysis of kindled hippocampal afterdischarges in lead-treated rats

Male rats were exposed to lead from parturition through weaning. When subjected to electrical hippocampal kindling as adults, although there were no alterations in the kindling rates, lead-treated animals were found to differ from controls in several other respects. In contrast to controls, lead-treated animals did not show an increase in afterdischarge (AD) duration with kindling, and the power spectrum of the AD did not shift to a higher peak frequency. There was a clear dose-related effect of lead on the spectra of the kindled AD, which in lead-treated groups was characterized by greater power in the low-frequency bands. These data indicate that long-lasting dysfunction can occur following a brief neonatal lead exposure. Power spectral techniques may be useful for future studies in neurotoxicology and epilepsy.

Organic lead and histological parameters of brain development

Relatively little work has been done on the structural effects of organic lead in the central nervous system (CNS), although this form of lead may be a significant fraction of total brain lead. We tested a number of easily measured light-histological parameters of neuronal development in rats for sensitivity to (a) normal growth between 18 and 28 days of life and (b) the effect of weekly injections of tetramethyl lead (TML), administered from 1 week after conception until post-natal day 6. Several of the histological parameters were found to be sensitive to normal growth, but none showed any effect of organic lead treatment. This was despite a small but significant decrease in brain weight, and a significant increase in body/brain weight ratio, with tetramethyl lead treatment. The body/brain weight ratio was the parameter most sensitive to tetramethyl lead treatment. Possible reasons for the disparity between weight and histological parameters are discussed, with reference to previous workers' findings concerning the effects of organic lead on the development of myelin in the CNS and the availability of organic lead to brain tissue.

Development and plasticity of the hippocampal-cholinergic system in normal and early lead exposed rats

A review of previous evidence suggested the possibility of a functional association between the effects of early lead (Pb) exposure, hippocampal damage and cholinergic deficiency. To further assess this possibility, Long-Evans hooded rat pups were exposed to Pb for the first 25 postnatal days via the maternal milk. Dams were fed either 4.0% PbCO3 or a Na2CO3 control diet throughout this period. At 30 and 115 days of age, the brains of Pb and control animals were processed for acetylcholinesterase histochemistry. Morphometric evaluation of the molecular layer of the hippocampal dentate gyrus indicated that while absolute increases in the dimensions of the afferent systems to the hippocampal dentate gyrus are observed between 30 and 115 days of age, no significant rearrangement in the pattern of lamination occurs during this time. No effects of Pb were seen on the development of the cholinergic innervation of this brain region at either of these ages. Unilateral perforant path transections performed on Pb and control animals at 100 days of age indicated reduced cholinergic plasticity in the molecular layer of the hippocampal dentate gyrus of Pb exposed animals, as indicated by AChE histochemistry. These findings indicate that a decrease in neuroanatomical plasticity may be a critical brain mechanism underlying the learning deficits observed following exposure to Pb.

The morphological effects of lead on the developing central nervous system

The pathological changes found in the central nervous system of lead-exposed humans and laboratory animals are reviewed. Data in man relate to relatively high exposure levels. In human childhood lead encephalopathy, which occurs with blood lead levels in the range 100-800 micrograms Pb/100 ml, oedema, vacuolation, haemorrhage and reactive glial changes appear to be secondary to microvascular lesions. No primary neuronal lesions have yet been clearly identified. Neurological signs and a pathological picture closely resembling that seen in human lead encephalopathy are obtained in young lead-exposed rats with blood lead levels above 500 micrograms Pb/100 ml. Oedema and haemorrhage, cyst formation, reactive glial changes and nerve cell alterations are observed consequent to changes in capillary endothelial cells and basement membranes. High-level lead exposure in rats also produces disturbances in myelinated axons and may affect neural network formation in the central nervous system. With intermediate lead levels (200-500 microgram Pb/100 ml blood), vascular changes and their sequelae are not seen, but nutritional effects occur which may produce neuropathological changes. Data from recent studies on developing rats with low blood levels (up to 100 microgram Pb/100 ml) appear to show effects of lead on maturing and differentiated nerve cell populations. The relevance of these changes to human subclinical lead intoxication remains to be seen. However, the overall correspondence of findings in lead-poisoned man and rat would make further investigation in this area appear necessary.