Effects of short-term and long-term depleted uranium exposure on open-field behavior and brain lipid oxidation in rats

Uranium modifies or not behavior and antioxidant status in the hippocampus of rats exposed since birth

“…The opposite result, i.e. hyperactivity, has been described in adult rats exposed to U. Locomotor activity and rearing movements increased by 100% in an open field over a 5-min observation period in adult rats exposed to 150 mg U.L -1 for either 2 weeks or 6 months (Briner and Murray, 2005). Similarly, a 25% increase in locomotor activity and a 35% increase in rearing movements have been reported over a 5-15 min observation period in an open field in rats exposed to repeated U inhalation (30 min inhalation at 197 mg.m -3 , 4 days a week for 3 weeks) (Monleau et al, 2005).…”

“…A correlation between lipid peroxidation -a marker of oxidative stress measured by the thiobarbituric acid (TBA) assay -and locomotor activity has previously been demonstrated after ingestion of U in adult animals (150 mg.L -1 ) for 2 weeks (Briner and Murray, 2005). Here we quantified lipid peroxidation by the direct determination of hydroperoxides, which was significantly higher in animals exposed to the higher U dose.…”

“…Some precautions should be taken regarding chronic exposure to this contaminants at environmental doses. Finally, since males are less resistant than females to U-mediated toxicity (Briner and Murray, 2005), this study focused only on male pups, but further experiments on females might also be useful.…”

“…For example, it has been shown that U is a developmental toxicant with dose-related fetal toxicity (Arfsten et al, 2001). U crosses the blood-brain barrier (Lemercier et al, 2003) and accumulates in the rat brain after chronic exposure (Pellmar et al, 1999a;Paquet et al, 2006), and several experimental studies have found that it has a toxic effect on the behavior of adult rats (Briner and Murray, 2005;Bellès et al, 2005;Houpert et al, 2005;Lestaevel et al, 2005). This behavioral toxicity is expressed by increased locomotor activity (Briner and Muray, 2005;Bellès et al, 2005), significantly decreased spatial working memory capacities , increased anxiety , and shorter paradoxical sleep .…”

Medical Consequences of Depleted Uranium Use in Northern Kosovo

“…Epidemiological studies and toxicological tests on laboratory animals point to it as being immunotoxic [Wan et al, 2006], teratogenic [Arfsten et al, 2001], neurotoxic [Briner and Murray, 2005], with carcinogenic and leukemogenic potential [Miller et al, 2005]. A 2005 report by epidemiologists concluded: "the human epidemiological evidence is consistent with increased risk of birth defects in offspring of persons exposed to DU."…”