| Popis: |
The neuropathological examination of the nervous system of fish is rarely undertaken, even when fish histopathology is used as a tool of aquatic toxicology. Conversely, in mammalian toxicology, increasing regulatory concern over the suitability of routine toxicity assays to provide sufficient data on the neurotoxic potential of some classes of industrial chemicals has stimulated the development of neurotoxicological ‘test batteries’; these use a combination of clinical, behavioural, electrophysiological and neuropathological methods. This study illustrates, in the albino rat model, how neuropathological techniques have been used to identify and study chemically induced lesions of the mammalian nervous system. Examples drawn upon include an organometal, trimethyltin, which induces selective necrosis of parts of the prosencephalon, a nitro-aromatic, 1,3-dinitrobenzene, which induces spongy degeneration in the rhombencephalon, an acrylo nitrile, 3,3-iminodipropionitrile, which produces a proximal axonopathy and a hexacarbon, 2,5-hexanedione, which produces central peripheral distal axonopathy. Since there are little structural data available on the responsiveness of fish to neurotoxicants it remains to be determined how sensitive or refractory laboratory fish models are to mammalian neurotoxicants. |
