Acute Oral Toxicity (acute + oral_toxicity)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Acute oral toxicity of colchicine in rats: effects of gender, vehicle matrix and pre-exposure to lipopolysaccharide

JOURNAL OF APPLIED TOXICOLOGY, Issue 5 2007
Paddy L. Wiesenfeld
Abstract The oral toxicity of a single administration by gavage (10, 20 or 30 mg kg,1 body weight) of colchicine (COL) was determined in young, mature male and female Sprague-Dawley rats. The effect of COL was evaluated in the presence or absence of additional treatment variables that included vehicle and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) pre-exposure. The vehicle for COL was either Half and Half cream (H & H) or saline, and each group included pretreatment with either saline or a low, minimally toxic dose (83 µg kg,1 body weight) of LPS. Colchicine toxicity in both male and female age-matched rats was characterized by progressively more severe dose-related clinical signs of toxicity. These included mortality, decreased body weight and feed intake during the first several days after dosing, with recovery thereafter in surviving animals. There were differences in the severity of the toxic response to COL between male and female rats. The most notable sex-related difference was in COL lethality. Female rats were two times more susceptible to the lethal effects of COL than male rats. Saline or H & H delivery vehicles did not result in any apparent qualitative or quantitative differences in COL toxicity. LPS pretreatment significantly potentiated COL lethality in both males and females, although the potentiation in males was greater than in females. LPS pretreatment modestly increased the COL induced anorexic effect in surviving males, but not in surviving female animals. LPS did not appear to modulate either the body weights or clinical signs of COL induced toxicity in surviving males or females. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Acute oral toxicity of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis to fleas: implications for the evolution of vector-borne transmission of plague

CELLULAR MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 11 2007
David L. Erickson
Summary Yersinia pestis diverged from Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, 20 000 years ago, during which time it evolved to be transmitted by fleas. In comparing the ability of these closely related species to infect the rat flea Xenopsylla cheopis, we found that Y. pseudotuberculosis, unlike Y. pestis, is orally toxic to fleas. Fleas showed signs of acute toxicity, including diarrhoea, immediately after feeding on blood containing Y. pseudotuberculosis in response to protein toxin(s) produced by the bacteria. Adherence of Y. pseudotuberculosis to the midgut and large intracellular vacuoles in midgut epithelial cells were detected during the first 24 h after infection. The insect pathogen Photorhabdus luminescens and its TcdA1 and TcdB1-TccC1 insecticidal toxin complexes were similarly toxic to fleas, implicating the toxin complex (tc) genes also present in Yersinia species. However, the Y. pestis and Y. pseudotuberculosis TcaAB and TcaC-TccC proteins were non-toxic to fleas, and Y. pseudotuberculosis mutants deleted of tc genes retained acute toxicity. Our results indicate that loss of one or more insect gut toxins was a critical step in the recent evolution of flea-borne transmission in the genus Yersinia. Changes in the tc insecticidal genes do not appear to have been responsible, but may have had other effects on Yersinia,flea interactions. [source]


Estimating the probability of bird mortality from pesticide sprays on the basis of the field study record

ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY & CHEMISTRY, Issue 7 2002
Pierre Mineau
Abstract The outcome of avian field studies was examined to model the likelihood of mortality. The data were divided into clusters reflecting the type of pesticide application and bird guilds present on site. Logistic regression was used to model the probability of a bird kill. Four independent variables were tested for their explanatory power: a variable reflecting acute oral toxicity and application rate; a variable reflecting the relative oral to dermal toxicity of the pesticides; Henry's law constant; and a variable reflecting possible avoidance of contaminated food items, the hazard factor (HF). All variables except for HF significantly improved model prediction. The relative dermal to oral toxicity, especially, was shown to have a major influence on field outcome and clearly must be incorporated into future avian risk assessments. The probability of avian mortality could be calculated from a number of current pesticide applications and the conclusion was made that avian mortality occurs regularly and frequently in agricultural fields. [source]


Gastroprotective activity of ferruginol in mice and rats: effects on gastric secretion, endogenous prostaglandins and non-protein sulfhydryls

JOURNAL OF PHARMACY AND PHARMACOLOGY: AN INTERNATI ONAL JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCE, Issue 2 2008
Carlos Areche
The gastroprotective mechanism of the natural diterpene ferruginol was assessed in mice and rats. The involvement of gastric prostaglandins (PGE2), reduced glutathione, nitric oxide or capsaicin receptors was evaluated in mice either treated or untreated with indometacin, N-ethylmaleimide (NEM), N-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) or ruthenium red, respectively, and then orally treated with ferruginol or vehicle. Gastric lesions were induced by oral administration of ethanol. The effects of ferruginol on the parameters of gastric secretion were assessed in pylorus-ligated rats. Gastric PGE2 content was determined in rats treated with ferruginol and/or indometacin. The reduction of gastric glutathione (GSH) content was determined in rats treated with ethanol after oral administration of ferruginol, lansoprazole or vehicle. Finally, the acute oral toxicity was assessed in mice. Indometacin reversed the gastroprotective effect of ferruginol (25 mg kg,1) but not NEM, ruthenium red or L-NAME. The diterpene (25 mg kg,1) increased the gastric juice volume and its pH value, and reduced the titrable acidity but was devoid of effect on the gastric mucus content. Ferruginol (25, 50 mg kg,1) increased gastric PGE2 content in a dose-dependent manner and prevented the reduction in GSH observed due to ethanol-induced gastric lesions in rats. Single oral doses up to 3 g kg,1 ferruginol did not elicit mortality or acute toxic effects in mice. Our results showed that ferruginol acted as a gastroprotective agent stimulating the gastric PGE2 synthesis, reducing the gastric acid output and improving the antioxidant capacity of the gastric mucosa by maintaining the GSH levels. [source]


Toxicity and nicotinic acetylcholine receptor interaction of imidacloprid and its metabolites in Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

PEST MANAGEMENT SCIENCE (FORMERLY: PESTICIDE SCIENCE), Issue 7 2001
Ralf Nauen
Abstract Acute oral and contact toxicity tests of imidacloprid, an insecticide acting agonistically on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR), to adult honeybees, Apis mellifera L var carnica, were carried out by seven different European research facilities. Results indicated that the 48-h oral LD50 of imidacloprid is between 41 and >81,ng per bee, and the contact LD50 between 49 and 102,ng per bee. The ingested amount of imidacloprid-containing sucrose solution decreased with increasing imidacloprid concentrations and may be attributed to dose-related sub-lethal intoxication symptoms or to antifeedant responses. Some previously reported imidacloprid metabolites occuring at low levels in planta after seed dressing, ie olefine-, 5-OH- and 4,5-OH-imidacloprid, showed lower oral LD50 values (>36, >49 and 159,ng per bee, respectively) compared with the concurrently tested parent molecule (41,ng per bee). The urea metabolite and 6-chloronicotinic acid (6-CNA) exhibited LD50 values of >99,500 and >121,500,ng per bee, respectively. The pharmacological profile of the [3H]imidacloprid binding site in honeybee head membrane preparations is consistent with that anticipated for a nAChR. IC50 values for the displacement of [3H]imidacloprid by several metabolites such as olefine, 5-OH-, 4,5-OH-imidacloprid, urea and 6-CNA were 0.45, 24, 6600, >100,000, and >100,000,nM, respectively. Displacement of [3H]imidacloprid by imidacloprid revealed an IC50 value of 2.9,nM, thus correlating well with the observed acute oral toxicity of the compounds in honeybees. Neurons isolated from the antennal lobe of A mellifera and subjected to whole-cell voltage clamp electrophysiology responded to the application of 100,µM acetylcholine with a fast inward current of between 30 and 1600 pA at ,70,mV clamp potential. Imidacloprid and two of the metabolites (olefine- and 5-OH-imidacloprid) acted agonistically on these neurons, whereas the others did not induce currents at test conencentrations up to 3,mM. The electrophysiological data revealed Hill coefficients of approximately 1, indicating a single binding site responsible for an activation of the receptor and no direct cooperativity or allosteric interaction with a second binding site. © 2001 Society of Chemical Industry [source]