Dietary exposure to chlorpyrifos alters core temperature in the rat

Thermoregulatory, cardiovascular, and metabolic responses to mild caloric restriction in the Brown Norway rat

Caloric restriction (CR) has been demonstrated to prolong the life span of a variety of species. CR-induced reduction in core temperature (Tc) is considered a key mechanism responsible for prolonging life span in rodents; however, little is known about the regulation of CR-induced hypothermia as a function of the circadian cycle. We assessed how mild CR that resulted in a 10% reduction in body weight affected the 24 h patterns of Tc as well as heart rate (HR) and motor activity (MA) of the Brown Norway rat. Telemetered rats were allowed to feed for 20 weeks ad libitum (AL) or given a CR diet. Tc, HR, and MA of CR rats exhibited nocturnal reductions and diurnal elevations, opposite to that of AL rats. The effects of CR appeared to peak at ∼4 weeks. Metabolic rate (MR) and respiratory exchange ratio (RER) were measured overnight after 18 weeks of CR. MR and RER were elevated markedly at the time of feeding in CR rats and then declined during the night. We found that the pattern of Tc was altered with CR, characterized by elimination of high nocturnal Tc's typically observed in AL animals. In terms of mechanisms to prolong life span in CR animals, we suggest that the shift in the pattern of Tc during CR (i.e., elimination of high Tc's) may be as critical as the overall mean reduction in Tc. Future studies should address how the time of feeding may affect the thermoregulatory response in calorically restricted rats.

Nephrotoxicity induced by long-term oral administration of different doses of chlorpyrifos

Wistar rats (male) were divided into 3 groups — group A (GA) served as control, group B (GB) were daily administered chlorpyrifos (Anu Products Ltd., India) orally at a dose of 5 mg/kg b wt. and animals in group C (GC) received daily an oral administration of chlorpyrifos at a dose of 10 mg/kg b wt. Rats were sacrificed on 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th week after initiation of the experiment. Kidneys were extirpated and fixed in aqueous Bouin’s solution. The tissues thus fixed were routinely processed for histological studies. The present study showed that the histopathological changes were caused in kidney of rats by chlorpyrifos administration. The changes noticed were mainly the shrinkage of glomerulus at initial stage of treatment, the tubular dilation, the glomerular hypercellularity, hypertrophy of tubular epithelium, degeneration of glomerulus and renal tubules, deposition of eosin-positive substances in the glomerulus and renal tubules and infiltration of leucocytes. A decrease in the body weight gain was observed in chlorpyrifos-treated rats. However, variable intensities of these changes were noticed depending upon the doses and duration of the treatment.