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Neurotoxicity of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic butyl ester in chick embryos

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Abstract

Fertilized hens' eggs were externally treated, before starting incubation, with a single dose of 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic butyl ester (2,4-D b.e., 3.1 mg/egg). Chicks at different developmental stages were examined, extending from 10 day embryos to one day after hatching. Previously, we demonstrated that 2,4-D b.e. produces hypomyelination in chicks born from treated eggs. In search of the causes of this hypomyelination, “myelin markers” such as sulphatides, cerebrosides and 2′ 3′-cyclic nucleotide 3′-phosphohydrolase (CNPase) activity, as well as protein and nucleic acid contents were determined in the embryonic brains. We have shown in the present study that the chemical alterations occurred even before the period of active myelination, since myelin appears in chicken brain stem and cerebrum approximately after 17 days of incubation, and most of the chemical parameters studied are diminished before that time. The DNA content in brain of treated group is increased from the 14th embryonic day (with a transient diminution at 12th day) to the first hatching day, when compared to the control, suggesting a proliferation of glial cells, possibly oligodendrocytes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Fisico-Quimicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Rio Cuarto, Cordoba

    Gladys Mori de Moro

  2. Laboratorio de Toxicologia Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias Bioquimicas y Farmaceuticas, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Suipacha 570, 2.000, Rosario, Argentina

    Ricardo Duffard & Ana Maria Evangelista de Duffard

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  1. Gladys Mori de Moro
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  2. Ricardo Duffard
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  3. Ana Maria Evangelista de Duffard
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Mori de Moro, G., Duffard, R. & Evangelista de Duffard, A.M. Neurotoxicity of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic butyl ester in chick embryos. Neurochem Res 18, 353–359 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00969095

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