Meeting Abstract
P1.135 Sunday, Jan. 4 p-Aminosalicylic Acid Blocks Manganese from Impairing the Dopaminergic Innervation of the Gill of the Bivalve Mollusc, Crassostrea virginica HUGGINS, T.*; LICORISH, R.; CARROLL, M.A.; CATAPANE, E.J.; Medgar Evers College; Kingsborough Community College; Medgar Evers College; Medgar Evers College BluDreamer81@aol.com
Previous work in our lab showed that treating Crassostrea virginica for 3 days with µmolar concentrations of manganese (Mn) impaired the cilio-inhibitory innervation of the gill which is mediated by dopamine neurons originating from the cerebral and visceral ganglia of the animal. High levels of Mn are neurotoxic to people and cause Manganism, a Parkinsons-like disease. Clinical interventions for Manganism have not been successful. Recently, p-aminosalicylic acid (PAS) was reported to provide effective treatment of severe Manganism in humans. The present study sought to determine if the effects of the 3 day treatments with Mn could be decreased by cotreating animals with PAS. Animals were treated with Mn (500 µM), PAS (50 and 500 µM), or PAS plus Mn, for 3 days. Control animals were similarly treated without Mn or PAS. Beating rates of the lateral cilia of gill epithelial cells were measured by stroboscopic microscopy of gill preparations which had the ipsilateral visceral ganglia attached (VG preparations) and then tested by superfusion of the visceral ganglia with dopamine and serotonin. Short term treatments with Mn resulted in a dose dependant impairment of the dopaminergic, cilio-inhibitory system, which is in agreement with our previous work. Cotreating animals with Mn and PAS significantly decreased the neurotoxic effects of Mn. The study shows that PAS can protect the animal against the neurotoxic effects of Mn and that this preparation is useful as a model to study Mn neurotoxicity and the pharmacology of drugs affecting it. This work was supported in part by grants 2R25GM06003-05 of the Bridge Program of NIGMS, 0516041071 of NYSDOE, and 0622197 of the DUE Program of NSF.
