DEVELOPMENTAL LEAD EXPOSURE INCREASES ETHANOL-INDUCED LOCOMOTION IN Caenorhabditis elegans

ALBRECHT, P.A,DEZA-PONZIO, R.,CANCELA, L.M,VIRGOLINI, M.B.; CARRANZA A.,ASIS, R

Puerto Varas

Congreso; VIII LASBRA INTERNATIONAL MEETING: Neurobiological basis of alcoholism: from molecules to behavior?; 2017

Latin American Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism (LASBRA)

Previous studies have demonstrated that developmentally lead (Pb) exposure induces a higher susceptibility to several responses to ethanol. Caenorhabditis elegans has become an excellent model to study the neurobehavioral responses to drugs, including ethanol. Nematodes in the L3 stage were exposed to Pb(NO3)2 5mg/L during 96 hs until their progenie reached the L1 stage. Thereafter, they were washed and transferred to a new plate free of Pb with food during 48 h. The ethanol effects on motility were evaluated in L3 worms perinatally exposed to Pb, 2 hs after the ethanol concentration in the agar reached 200 or 400 mM. The average speed of ten worms was registered during 2 min either 10 min or 30 min after the onset of ethanol exposure to evaluate the initial depressor response that was followed by a recuperation effect characteristic of ethanol efects on motility. The results demonstrate that the perinatally-Pb exposed worms developed an increased motility both 10 and 30 min after 400 mM ethanol compared to their non-ethanol counterparts, an effect that was not evident in the control animals. No differences were observed in any group at the 200 mM ethanol concentration. Thus, the hypermotility observed in the perinatal Pb exposed worms implies a potentiation in the development of tolerance to the sedative effects of ethanol at the higher dose evaluated. It is concluded that the C. elegans model is suitable to reproduce the locomotor stimulants effect of ethanol that were previously reported by us in perinatally Pb-exposed rats.