Fetal and childhood exposures to widely used organophosphate pesticides, especially chlorpyrifos (CPF), have raised concerns about developmental neurotoxicity. Previously, biomarkers for brain cell number, cell packing density, and cell size indicated that neonatal rats were more sensitive to CPF than were fetal rats, yet animals exposed prenatally still developed behavioral deficits in adolescence and adulthood. In the present study, we administered CPF to pregnant rats on gestational days 17-20, using regimens devoid of overt fetal toxicity. We then examined subsequent development of acetylcholine systems in forebrain regions involved in cognitive function and compared the effects with those on general biomarkers of cell development. Choline acetyltransferase, a constitutive marker for cholinergic nerve terminals, showed only minor CPF-induced changes during the period of rapid synaptogenesis. In contrast, hemicholinium-3 binding to the presynaptic choline transporter, which is responsive to nerve impulse activity, displayed marked suppression in the animals exposed to CPF; despite a return to nearly normal values by weaning, deficits were again apparent in adolescence and adulthood. There was no compensatory up-regulation of cholinergic receptors, as m2-muscarinic cholinergic receptor binding was unchanged. CPF also elicited delayed-onset alterations in biomarkers for general aspects of cell integrity, with reductions in cell packing density, increases in relative cell size, and contraction of neuritic extensions; however, neither the magnitude nor timing of these changes was predictive of the cholinergic defects. The present findings indicate a wide window of vulnerability of cholinergic systems to CPF, extending from prenatal through postnatal periods, occurring independently of adverse effects on general cellular neurotoxicity.

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In adolescents, the symptoms of nicotine dependence can appear well before the onset of habitual smoking. We investigated short-term nicotine exposure in adolescent rats for corresponding cholinergic alterations. Beginning on postnatal day 30, rats were given a 1-week regimen of nicotine infusions or twice-daily injections, at doses (0.6, 2, and 6 mg/kg/day) set to achieve plasma levels found in occasional to regular smokers. In the cerebral cortex, midbrain, and hippocampus, we assessed nicotinic cholinergic receptor (nAChR) binding, choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity, a constitutive marker for cholinergic nerve terminals, and [ 3 H]hemicholinium-3 (HC-3) binding to the high-affinity choline transporter, which responds to cholinergic synaptic stimulation. nAChR upregulation was observed with either administration route, even at the lowest dose; in the hippocampus, increases could be detected with as little as 2 days' treatment at 0.6 mg/kg/day. In the midbrain, upregulation was still significant even 1 month post-treatment. Adolescent nicotine treatment also produced lasting decrements in HC-3 binding that were separable from effects on ChAT, suggesting cholinergic synaptic impairment. Again, these effects were obtained at the lowest dose and remained significant 1 month post-treatment. Our results indicate that in adolescence, even a brief period of continuous or intermittent nicotine exposure, elicits lasting alterations in cholinergic systems in brain regions associated with nicotine dependence. As the effects are detected at exposures that produce plasma concentrations as little as one-tenth of those in regular smokers, the exquisite sensitivity of the adolescent brain to nicotine may contribute to the onset of nicotine dependence even in occasional smokers.