Recombinogenic, genotoxic, and cytotoxic effects of azathioprine using in vivo assays.

Azathioprine (Aza) is a purine antimetabolite immunosuppressant that is widely employed for immunosuppressive therapy in post-transplant recipients or patients with autoimmune diseases. Chronic use of immunosuppressants might produce several side effects, including a high rate of neoplasms in these patients. Considering that genotoxic effects are associated with an increased risk of developing cancer, the aim of this study was to examine the recombinogenic, genotoxic, and cytotoxic effects of Aza using Somatic Mutation and Recombination Test (SMART) in Drosophila melanogaster, as well as comet and micronucleus assays in mouse bone marrow cells. Further, the adverse effects of Aza were determined in mouse hepatic and renal tissues using histopathological analysis. Data demonstrated that Aza induced significant increased genotoxicity in D. melanogaster and mouse bone marrow cells at all concentrations tested. Homologous recombination was the predominant genotoxic event noted for the first time to be initiated by Aza in SMART. In histopathological analysis, Aza did not show any marked toxic activity in mouse hepatic and renal tissues. Therefore, the high rate of neoplasms reported in patients with long-term use of Aza may be attributed, at least partially, to the genotoxic action of this drug.

Combined therapy with m-TOR-dependent and -independent autophagy inducers causes neurotoxicity in a mouse model of Machado-Joseph disease.

A major pathological hallmark in several neurodegenerative disorders, like polyglutamine disorders (polyQ), including Machado-Joseph disease (MJD), is the formation of protein aggregates. MJD is caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the ATXN3 gene, resulting in an abnormal protein, which is prone to misfolding and forms cytoplasmic and nuclear aggregates within neurons, ultimately inducing neurodegeneration. Treatment of proteinopathies with drugs that up-regulate autophagy has shown promising results in models of polyQ diseases. Temsirolimus (CCI-779) inhibits the mammalian target of rapamycin (m-TOR), while lithium chloride (LiCl) acts by inhibiting inositol monophosphatase, both being able to induce autophagy. We have previously shown that chronic treatment with LiCl (10.4 mg/kg) had limited effects in a transgenic MJD mouse model. Also, others have shown that CCI-779 had mild positive effects in a different mouse model of the disease. It has been suggested that the combination of mTOR-dependent and -independent autophagy inducers could be a more effective therapeutic approach. To further explore this avenue toward therapy, we treated CMVMJD135 transgenic mice with a conjugation of CCI-779 and LiCl, both at concentrations known to induce autophagy and not to be toxic. Surprisingly, this combined treatment proved to be deleterious to both wild-type (wt) and transgenic animals, failing to rescue their neurological symptoms and actually exerting neurotoxic effects. These results highlight the possible dangers of manipulating autophagy in the nervous system and suggest that a better understanding of the potential disruption in the autophagy pathway in MJD is required before successful long-term autophagy modulating therapies can be developed.

Monoamine deficits in the brain of methyl-CpG binding protein 2 null mice suggest the involvement of the cerebral cortex in early stages of Rett syndrome.

Rett syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by mutations in the methyl-CpG binding protein 2 gene (MECP2). Several neural systems are affected in Rett, resulting in an autonomic dysfunction, a movement disorder with characteristic loss of locomotor abilities and profound cognitive impairments. A deregulation of monoamines has been detected in the brain and cerebrospinal fluid of both Rett patients and a Rett syndrome murine model, the Mecp2 knock-out mouse. Our goal was to characterize the onset and progression of motor dysfunction in Mecp2(tm1.1Bird) knock-out mice and the possible neurochemical alterations in different brain regions potentially playing a role in Rett-like pathophysiology, at two different time-points, at weaning (3 weeks old) and in young adults when overt symptoms are observed (8 weeks old). Our results revealed significant age- and region-dependent impairments in these modulatory neurotransmitter systems that correspond well with the motor phenotype observed in these mice. At 3 weeks of age, male Mecp2 knock-out mice exhibited ataxia and delayed motor initiation. At this stage, noradrenergic and serotonergic transmission was mainly altered in the prefrontal and motor cortices, whereas during disease progression the neurochemical changes were also observed in hippocampus and cerebellum. Our data suggest that the deregulation of norepinephrine and serotonin systems in brain regions that participate in motor control are involved in the pathophysiology of Rett syndrome motor phenotypes. Moreover, we highlight the contribution of cortical regions along with the brainstem to be in the origin of the pathology and the role of hippocampus and cerebellum in the progression of the disease rather than in its establishment.

Evidence for abnormal early development in a mouse model of Rett syndrome.

Rett syndrome (RTT) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects mainly females, associated in most cases to mutations in the MECP2 gene. After an apparently normal prenatal and perinatal period, patients display an arrest in growth and in psychomotor development, with autistic behaviour, hand stereotypies and mental retardation. Despite this classical description, researchers always questioned whether RTT patients did have subtle manifestations soon after birth. This issue was recently brought to light by several studies using different approaches that revealed abnormalities in the early development of RTT patients. Our hypothesis was that, in the mouse models of RTT as in patients, early neurodevelopment might be abnormal, but in a subtle manner, given the first descriptions of these models as initially normal. To address this issue, we performed a postnatal neurodevelopmental study in the Mecp2(tm1.1Bird) mouse. These animals are born healthy, and overt symptoms start to establish a few weeks later, including features of neurological disorder (tremors, hind limb clasping, weight loss). Different maturational parameters and neurological reflexes were analysed in the pre-weaning period in the Mecp2-mutant mice and compared to wild-type littermate controls. We found subtle but significant sex-dependent differences between mutant and wild-type animals, namely a delay in the acquisition of the surface and postural reflexes, and impaired growth maturation. The mutant animals also show altered negative geotaxis and wire suspension behaviours, which may be early manifestations of later neurological symptoms. In the post-weaning period the juvenile mice presented hypoactivity that was probably the result of motor impairments. The early anomalies identified in this model of RTT mimic the early motor abnormalities reported in the RTT patients, making this a good model for the study of the early disease process.

Pesticides in Portuguese surface and ground waters.

Pesticides used in Portuguese agricultural areas have been found in surface and ground waters. In the surface water collected in three river basins from 1983 to 1999, insecticides and herbicides were detected from the monitored pesticides, particularly atrazine, chlorfenvinphos (Z+E), alpha- and beta-endosulfan, lindane, molinate and simazine, reaching the maximum values, respectively, of 0.63, 31.6, 0.18 microg/L (alpha-endosulfan), 0.18 microg/L (beta-endosulfan), 0.24, 48 and 0.3 microg/L. In the ground water collected from the wells of seven agricultural areas from 1991 to 1998, several monitored herbicides were detected: alachlor, atrazine, metolachlor, metribuzine and simazine, reaching the maximum concentration values of 13, 30, 56, 1.4 and 0.4 microg/L, respectively. The herbicides more frequently detected were atrazine (64%), simazine (45%) and alachlor (25%). Other than these, the monitored pesticides can be present in Portuguese surface and ground waters. Therefore, to improve the analytical conditions, the use of multiresidue methods and automated techniques are desirable in future work.

Use of new microbiotests with Daphnia magna and Selenastrum capricornutum immobilized forms.

A preliminary assessment of toxicity to aquatic life of water from rice fields treated with pesticides, and particularly with the herbicides molinate and quinclorac, was performed from June to August 1996 in a rice paddy area integrated in a Natural Reserve. New rapid-screening microbiotests with Daphnia magna and Selenastrum capricornutum were used. Water samples were collected from: a water source for irrigating the rice fields, two rice plots, a drainage channel and the river in which the water is discharged. The results showed that while the water for irrigation was not toxic to D. magna, the samples collected from the river were very toxic causing 100% immobility in D. magna and substantial inhibition of Selenastrum growth. This, however, is due to the brackish nature of the river water. Water collected in the drainage channel of the rice fields were also found to be quite toxic. A greater effect was detected in samples from the rice plot treated with molinate than from that treated with quinclorac, suggesting that molinate treatment was more toxic to both species. The results indicate that the rapidity, simplicity and relatively low cost of the new microbiotests make them very practical for initial acute toxicity screening and offer an alternative to provide evidence for changes needed in agriculture practices for a better protection of the aquatic environment.

Gas-liquid chromatographic determination of organophosphorus insecticide residues in fruits and vegetables.

A method intended for regulatory purposes is described for the determination of organophosphorus insecticide residues in fruits and vegetables. Eighteen organophosphorus insecticides, azinphos-ethyl, chlorpyrifos, diazinon, dichlorvos, dimethoate, ethion, ethoate-methyl, fenitrothion, fenthion, formothion, malathion, methidathion, mevinphos, parathion, phosalone, phosphamidon, thiometon, and trichlorphon, and 7 metabolites, fenitrooxon, fenthion sulfoxide, fenthion sulfone, malaoxon, desethylphosphamidon, thiometon sulfoxide, and thiometon sulfone, were extracted from different crops with acetone and partitioned into hexane or ethyl acetate, according to their polarities. The hexane extract was cleaned up by eluting from a Florisil column with acetone-hexane (4+96). The ethyl acetate extract needs no cleanup. The concentrated extracts were analyzed by gas-liquid chromatography using thermionic detectors. Recoveries conducted at fortification levels ranging from 0.1 to 2 mg/kg were in most cases above 80%. The limit of sensitivity is less than 0.1 mg/kg.