Dithiocarbamates are a class of chemical compounds enjoying wide use in industry, agriculture, and medicine. Most of them are potent chelating agents. As chelators, however, they may also promote elevated brain levels of metals at the same time that they enhance excretion from other organ systems. Lead, copper, nickel, methylmercury, cadmium, and thallium are among the metals for which such effects have been shown. Whether these elevated brain levels might also induce neurotoxicity, and under what circumstances, needs to be clarified. The proposed research represents an effort to combine chemical and behavioral measures to explore these issues. Rats will be exposed to lead, nickel, and thallium in drinking water and treated twice weekly with diethyldithiocarbamate (DDC). Chemical measures will be used to ascertain metal levels in various tissues, whether the metal is bound to DDC in the tissue or is in another form, and to determine a variety of biochemical effects. Behavioral measures, derived from a modified running wheel apparatus, will be used trace the appearance of neurotoxicity during the different treatment regimens.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
1R01ES004492-01
Application #
3252664
Study Section
Toxicology Study Section (TOX)
Project Start
1988-03-01
Project End
1991-02-28
Budget Start
1988-03-01
Budget End
1989-02-28
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
1988
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Rochester
Department
Type
School of Medicine & Dentistry
DUNS #
208469486
City
Rochester
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
14627