Neurobehavioural Symptoms Among Workers Occupationally Exposed to Toluene

Foo, S. C.; Phoon, W. O.; Lee, J

doi:10.1177/101053958800200310

Cited by 14 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…In fact, the primary target of toluene is believed to be the CNS [Benignus et al, 1981]. Animal studies have confirmed that repeated toluene exposure causes neuronal damage and alterations in cognitive behavior [Huang et al, 1992;Korbo et al, 1996], and behavioral abnormalities (alterations in mood, memory loss, decreased hearing capacity) have been reported in humans following exposure to toluene [Foo et al, 1988].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Developmental Neurotoxicity of Toluene: in vivo and in vitro Effects on Astroglial Cells

et al. 2003

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Toluene, an inexpensive and available industrial solvent, has become increasingly popular as a drug of abuse. Inhaling toluene leads to a feeling of euphoria and several reports have shown that children born to women who had abused toluene during pregnancy present a syndrome (toluene embryopathy or fetal solvent syndrome) that is characterized by CNS effects (e.g. microencephaly), growth retardation and facial dysmorphologies. The characteristics of the fetal solvent syndrome are very similar to those observed in the fetal alcohol syndrome. As exposure of rats to ethanol during the brain growth spurt has been shown to cause microencephaly and to affect glial cell proliferation and maturation, the present study examines the effects of toluene administration (250, 500 and 750 mg/kg) in neonatal rats from postnatal day 4 to 10. This treatment resulted in a significant decrease in both brain and body weights, and in a significant reduction of levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein, but not of neuron-specific enolase in rat brain. In vitro experiments demonstrate that pharmacologically relevant concentrations of toluene (250–1,000 µM) significantly inhibit proliferation of rat cortical astrocytes without causing overt cytotoxicity. These results indicate that toluene does not cause selective microencephaly; however, it affects brain weight, and appears to target developing astrocytes, possibly by inhibiting their proliferation.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Developmental Neurotoxicity of Toluene: in vivo and in vitro Effects on Astroglial Cells

et al. 2003

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“…The aromatic hydrocarbon toluene is a hazardous substance that poses health risks to humans, particularly to the central nervous system. Individuals with long-term exposures may exhibit memory loss, attention and concentration deficiencies, and poor abstracting abilities (17,21). Toluene has also been shown to serve as the sole carbon source for a number of denitrifying (12,14,19,33,34), sulfate-reducing (3,30), and iron-reducing (24) microorganisms.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification and Analysis of Genes Involved in Anaerobic Toluene Metabolism by Strain T1: Putative Role of a Glycine Free Radical

Coschigano

Wehrman

Young

1998

Appl Environ Microbiol

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The denitrifying strain T1 is able to grow with toluene serving as its sole carbon source. Two mutants which have defects in this toluene utilization pathway have been characterized. A clone has been isolated, and subclones which contain tutD and tutE, two genes in the T1 toluene metabolic pathway, have been generated. ThetutD gene codes for an 864-amino-acid protein with a calculated molecular mass of 97,600 Da. The tutE gene codes for a 375-amino-acid protein with a calculated molecular mass of 41,300 Da. Two additional small open reading frames have been identified, but their role is not known. The TutE protein has homology to pyruvate formate-lyase activating enzymes. The TutD protein has homology to pyruvate formate-lyase enzymes, including a conserved cysteine residue at the active site and a conserved glycine residue that is activated to a free radical in this enzyme. Site-directed mutagenesis of these two conserved amino acids shows that they are also essential for the function of TutD.

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“…Exposure to organic solvent appears to be increasing in most Asia-Pacific countries. In a study on neurobehavioural symptoms among workers exposed over a long period of time to toluene, difficulties of concentration and sleeping, excessive sweating, fatigue, and tachycardia were 1.8 times more prevalent among the exposed group than controls, and the symptoms score was also significantly more in the highest exposed group than the lowest exposed group (Foo et al, 1988).…”

Section: Solventsmentioning

confidence: 94%