Using the larvae nematode Caenorhabditis elegans to evaluate neurobehavioral toxicity to metallic salts

In this study, we investigated the locomotion behavior changes at different developmental stages in Caenorhabditis elegans exposed to metals for 4 h. No obvious differences could be observed in young adults exposed to examined metals, and only exposure to 100 μM of examined metals could significantly decrease the locomotion behaviors of L4 larvae. In contrast, exposure to 50 and 100 μM of examined metals induced noticeable repression of locomotion behaviors at L1-L3 larval stages, and a significant decrease of locomotion behaviors could be observed in L1 larvae exposed to Pb and Hg, and in L2 larvae exposed to Hg at the concentration of 2.5 μM. Moreover, the L1-, L2-, and L3-larvae exposed to metals for 4 h exhibited similar neurobehavioral toxicity manner to L4-larvae exposed to metals for 24 h. Therefore, younger larvae showed more severe deficits in neurobehavioral phenotypes than L4 larvae and young adults in metal-exposed nematodes.