Mechanisms of organophosphate insecticide-induced airway hyperreactivity.

It has been suggested that pesticide exposure may be a contributing factor underlying the increased incidence of asthma in the United States and other industrialized nations. To test this hypothesis, airway hyperreactivity was measured in guinea pigs exposed to chlorpyrifos, a widely used organophosphate pesticide. Electrical stimulation of the vagus nerves caused frequency-dependent bronchoconstriction that was significantly potentiated in animals 24 h or 7 days after a single subcutaneous injection of either 390 mg/kg or 70 mg/kg of chlorpyrifos, respectively. Mechanisms by which chlorpyrifos may cause airway hyperreactivity include inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) or dysfunction of M3 muscarinic receptors on airway smooth muscle or of autoinhibitory M2 muscarinic receptors on parasympathetic nerves in the lung. AChE activity in the lung was significantly inhibited 24 h after treatment with 390 mg/kg of chlorpyrifos, but not 7 days after injection of 70 mg/kg of chlorpyrifos. Acute exposure to eserine (250 microg/ml) also significantly inhibited lung AChE but did not potentiate vagally induced bronchoconstriction. Neuronal M2 receptor function was tested using the M2 agonist pilocarpine, which inhibits vagally induced bronchoconstriction in control animals. In chlorpyrifos-treated animals, pilocarpine dose-response curves were shifted significantly to the right, demonstrating decreased responsiveness of neuronal M2 receptors. In contrast, chlorpyrifos treatment did not alter methacholine-induced bronchoconstriction, suggesting that chlorpyrifos does not alter M3 muscarinic receptor function on airway smooth muscle. These data demonstrate that organophosphate insecticides can cause airway hyperreactivity in the absence of AChE inhibition by decreasing neuronal M2 receptor function.

Increased high-affinity nicotinic receptor-binding in rats exposed to lead during development.

Receptor autoradiography and membrane radioligand-binding assays were used to determine the expression of nicotinic cholinergic receptors in the brains of weanling rats exposed to low-levels of lead (Pb) during development. Nicotinic receptors were identified with the frog toxin epibatidine (EB) that binds with high affinity to a variety of receptors containing alpha and beta subunits. Rat pups were exposed to Pb from their mothers given 750-ppm Pb in the diet beginning on gestational day 0 through postnatal day (PN) 21. Blood Pb levels ranged from 36.5 to 46.5 microg/dl in the PN21 pups, and this exposure did not alter their body weight when compared to control rats. Several brain regions identified by autoradiographic studies as having significant binding of EB were dissected from control and Pb-treated pups and used in saturation-binding experiments with membrane preparations to determine the affinity constant (K(d)) and maximal-binding capacity (B(max)) of [3H]EB. Results indicate that the B(max) of [3H]EB was increased in several brain regions in Pb-treated rat pups, without a significant effect on K(d) estimates. [3H]EB-binding to membranes from untreated rats was not affected by in vitro exposure to 20-microM Pb, indicating that the effect of Pb on [3H]EB-binding in vivo was not likely due to direct influence of free Pb remaining in the tissue at the time of assay. The data therefore suggest that expression of nicotinic receptors that bind [3H]EB were increased by developmental exposure to Pb. Several possible mechanisms for these effects and the potential toxicological significance are discussed.

Noncholinesterase mechanisms of chlorpyrifos neurotoxicity: altered phosphorylation of Ca2+/cAMP response element binding protein in cultured neurons.

Previous studies suggest that low doses of the organophosphate insecticide chlorpyrifos (CPF) disrupt brain development and cognitive function by mechanisms that do not involve the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE). In the present study we tested the hypothesis that CPF and its metabolites alter the Ca2+/cAMP response element binding protein (CREB), a critical molecule in brain development and cognitive function. We further tested the hypothesis that changes in CREB occur independent of AChE inhibition. Western blot analysis of lysates from primary cultures of cortical neurons exposed to CPF, CPF-oxon, or trichloropyridinol (TCP) for 1 h and cultures exposed to trichloropyridinol (TCP) for 7 days indicated that all exposures increased the level of the phosphorylated (activated) form of CREB (pCREB), without significant changes in total CREB or alpha-tubulin. Remarkably, pCREB in cortical neurons was elevated by 300-400% of control levels with estimated EC50s of 60 pM, <30 fM, and <30 pM for CPF, CPF-oxon, and TCP, respectively. AChE activity and cell viability were not affected by organophosphate concentrations that caused significant increases in pCREB (up to 100 nM, 100 pM, and 10 microM of CPF, CPF-oxon, and TCP, respectively). The level of pCREB in hippocampal neurons was also elevated after exposure to CPF, but pCREB in cultured astrocytes was not affected. Inclusion of the cytochrome P-450 inhibitor SKF-525A did not inhibit the effects of CPF on pCREB levels, indicating that metabolism of CPF to CPF-oxon was not necessary to cause the increase in pCREB. The increases in neuronal pCREB observed in this study provide biochemical evidence that CPF and its metabolites are active at critical sites within the nervous system at levels far below those required to inhibit AChE, which could explain many of the reported neurodevelopmental and behavioral changes attributed to CPF toxicity.