Evaluation of neurobehavioral and neuroinflammatory end-points in the post-exposure period in rats sub-acutely exposed to manganese

Manganese (Mn) can cause manganism, a neurological disorder similar to Parkinson' Disease (PD). The neurobehavioral and neuroinflammatory end-points in the Mn post exposure period have not been studied yet. Rats were injected on alternate days with 8 doses of MnCl2 (25 mg/kg) or saline, then euthanized 1, 10, 30 or 70 days following the last dose. Whole-blood (WB) (p < 0.05), urine (p < 0.05) and brain cortical (p < 0.0001) Mn levels were significantly increased 24 h after the last dose. Decreases in the rats' ambulation were noted 1, 10 and 30 days after the last Mn dose (p < 0.001; p < 0.05; p < 0.001, respectively) and also in the rearing activity at the four time-points (p < 0.05). Cortical glial fibrillary acid protein immunoreactivity (GFAP-ir) was significantly increased at 1, 10, 30 (p < 0.0001) and 70 (p < 0.001) days after the last Mn dose, as well as tumor necrosis α (TNF-α) levels (p < 0.05) but just on day 1. Taken together, the results show that, during the 70-day clearance phase of Mn, the recovery is not immediate as behavioral alterations and neuroinflammation persist long after Mn is cleared from the cortical brain compartment.