DrugLib.com — Drug Information Portal

Rx drug information, pharmaceutical research, clinical trials, news, and more



Repeated stress in combination with pyridostigmine Part I: long-term behavioural consequences.

Author(s): Lamproglou I, Barbier L, Diserbo M, Fauvelle F, Fauquette W, Amourette C

Affiliation(s): Service d'Oncologie Radiotherapique, Hopital de la Pitie-Salpetriere, 47-83 Boulevard de l'Hopital, 75651 Paris Cedex 13, France. ilamprogl@aol.com

Publication date & source: 2009-02-11, Behav Brain Res., 197(2):301-10. Epub 2008 Aug 29.

Publication type: Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Since their return from the first Persian Gulf War, some veterans have complained of a variety of symptoms that were designated as "Gulf War Illness" (GWI). Among other factors, pyridostigmine, used as a prophylaxis treatment against intoxication by nerve agents, has been proposed by many authors as a cause of late social and/or cognitive dysfunction related to GWI. One of the hypotheses placed to explain these behavioural disorders is that operational stress has modified the side effects of pyridostigmine given to soldiers. In an attempt to establish an experimental model of GWI to evaluate the long-term behavioural effects of pyridostigmine administered in stressful conditions, we have developed a new model of repeated stress based on the pole-climbing avoidance technique. We used it to evaluate the effects of pyridostigmine treatment combined to repeated stress over the months following the end of the treatment. We observed that this stress induces impulsiveness and aggressiveness in adult male rat. Moreover, pyridostigmine treatment administered daily 30 min before each stressful session amplifies these behavioural disorders and induces long-term learning dysfunction and slight but significant decrease in phosphocholine level in hippocampus. This suggests that repeated administration of pyridostigmine combined to pole-climbing avoidance (PCA) stress conditions can induce adverse effects in rat central nervous system.

Page last updated: 2009-10-20

-- advertisement -- The American Red Cross
 
Home | About Us | Contact Us | Site usage policy | Privacy policy

All Rights reserved - Copyright DrugLib.com, 2006-2017