RESUMO
Objective In order to elucidate neurotoxic actions of toluene in the air of submarine, the effect of toluene on biochemical alteration in the brain was studied in rat. Methods Adult healthy male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly grouped into five groups (blank control group, excipient group, low dose group, medium dose group and high dose group). Toluene-exposed rats were administered with toluene in different doses (once a time every other day). Rats of excipient group were given olive oil with the volume as same as toluene. Nothing was given to rats of blank control group. 30 days later, all rats were sacrificed and the hippocampus and cortex were harvested for determination of nitric oxide synthase (NOS), nitric oxide (NO), malondialdehyde (MDA), Na~+-K~+-ATPase, reactive oxygen substances(ROS) and glutamic acid levels. Results NO content and NOS activity of rat's hippocampus in high dose group increased significantly compared with that of control group, and NO content was significantly positively correlated to NOS activity (r=0.7254, P