Disturbed sensorimotor and electrophysiological patterns in lead intoxicated rats during development are restored by curcumin I

PLoS One. 2017 Mar 7;12(3):e0172715. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0172715. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Lead poisoning is one of the most significant health problem of environmental origin. It is known to cause different damages in the central and peripheral nervous system which could be represented by several neurophysiological and behavioral symptoms. In this study we firstly investigated the effect of lead prenatal exposure in rats to (3g/L), from neonatal to young age, on the motor/sensory performances, excitability of the spinal cord and gaits during development. Then we evaluated neuroprotective effects of curcumin I (Cur I) against lead neurotoxicity, by means of grasping and cliff avoidance tests to reveal the impairment of the sensorimotor functions in neonatal rats exposed prenatally to lead. In addition, extracellular recordings of motor output in spinal cord revealed an hyper-excitability of spinal networks in lead treated rats. The frequency of induced fictive locomotion was also increased in treated rats. At the young age, rats exhibited an impaired locomotor gait. All those abnormalities were attenuated by Cur I treatment at a dose of 16g/kg. Based on our finding, Cur I has shown features of a potent chemical compound able to restore the neuronal and the relative locomotor behaviors disturbances induced by lead intoxication. Therefore, this chemical can be recommended as a new therapeutic trial against lead induced neurotoxicity.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Body Weight / drug effects
  • Curcumin / pharmacology*
  • Electrophysiological Phenomena / drug effects*
  • Female
  • Gait / drug effects
  • Lead Poisoning*
  • Locomotion / drug effects
  • Maternal Exposure
  • Neuroprotective Agents / pharmacology*
  • Pregnancy
  • Psychomotor Performance / drug effects*
  • Rats
  • Spinal Cord / drug effects
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • Neuroprotective Agents
  • Curcumin

Grants and funding

This work was financially supported by Neuromed and CNRST. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.