Putative noxious effects of the insecticide deltamethrin on the enteric nervous system in mammals.

The insecticide deltamethrin, a powerful synthetic pyrethroid, acts toward insects by ingestion or contact, altering normal neuronal function. Deltamethrin is known to modify sodium channel activities and intracellular calcium concentrations in neurons. It is of moderately high toxicity in mammals. Deltamethrin will increasingly be used in agriculture, resulting in an increased exposure of man to deltamethrin in time. This project focuses on the effects of the prolonged oral congestion of non-toxic doses of deltamethrin on the intrinsic and extrinsic innervation of the mammalian gastrointestinal tract. The study comprises morphological (multiple immunofluorescence and in situ hybridisation techniques) and microscopic (fluorescence or confocal laser scanning microscopy) techniques to detect effects of deltamethrin on viability and chemical coding of neurons in the gastrointestinal tract and in spinal and nodose ganglia of mouse and rat. Quantitative RT-PCR will be used to verify whether semi-quantitative changes occur at the mRNA level. Cultures of isolated vagal, spinal or enteric neurons will be applied to study in vitro the effects of deltamethrin in time on neurons using classic intracellular electrophysiological recording and optical recording. The obtained data will be helpful to recognize, prevent and treat putative noxious effects of a prolonged exposure to non-toxic doses of deltamethrin.

Keywords:MAMMALS, VETERINARY SCIENCE

Disciplines:Animal biology, Veterinary medicine, Other veterinary sciences, Other agricultural, veterinary and food sciences