Authors: J S Schneider W Mettil D W Anderson
Publish Date: 2011/12/10
Volume: 47, Issue: 1, Pages: 76-88
Abstract
Although developmental lead exposure is known to have detrimental effects on a variety of cognitive functions that depend on the integrity of the hippocampus and frontal cortex little is known about how low levels of lead exposure affect expression of key families of genes in these structures The present study examined the effects of exposure to environmentally relevant levels of lead during the sensitive early postweaning period in the rat on the expression profiles of a select number of neurobiologically relevant genes ie genes for neurotrophic factors NMDA receptors metabotropic glutamate receptors synaptic function/plasticity cell signaling and transcription/regulation in the rat hippocampus and frontal cortex Exposure to lead 180 and 375ppm lead acetate in food for 30 days significantly increased blood lead levels 58 to 103 μg/dl and significantly affected expression of many of the genes examined In many instances lead exposure had different effects on the same gene depending on the brain region in which the expression of that gene was examined Gene expression in the frontal cortex was often more sensitive to modification than gene expression in the hippocampus These results suggest that even past infancy exposures to low levels of lead can have significant effects on gene expression in the frontal cortex and the hippocampus with the potential to exert longterm effects on behavior and cognition
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