PERSISTENT EFFECTS OF 80 PPM TOLUENE ON DOPAMINE-REGULATED LOCOMOTOR-ACTIVITY AND PROLACTIN SECRETION IN THE MALE-RAT

In the present study we have investigated the effects of toluene expos ure (80 ppm, 4 weeks, 5 day/week, 6 h/day) on the serum levels of prol actin, and elaborated our earlier findings about persistent effects of toluene exposure on apomorphine-induced (1 mg/kg, s.c.) locomotor act ivity. We found that the serum levels of prolactin were increased by 6 7% in the toluene-exposed rats, as analyzed 17 days after the last exp osure. The locomotor activity counts of the control rats were not norm ally distributed before log-transformation, since most rats showed a l ow level of activity and only a few showed a very high activity level. The toluene-exposed rats showed a higher level of apomorphine-induced locomotion and motility but not rearing, as analyzed 17 days after th e last exposure, whereas spontaneous locomotor activity was unaffected . These results indicate that subacute exposure to 80 ppm of toluene c auses persistent impairments in dopamine-mediated neurotransmission. ( C) 1994 Intox Press, Inc.