Effect of exposure to high concentrations of toluene on ethanol preference of laboratory rats

Toluene exposure enhances acute and chronic formalin-induced nociception in rats: Participation of 5-HT3 receptors

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of acute toluene exposure on formalin (0.5% and 1%)-induced acute and long-lasting nociceptive hypersensitivity in rats. In addition, we sought to investigate the role of peripheral 5-HT₃ receptors in the pronociceptive effect of toluene. Toluene exposure (6000ppm) for 30min enhanced 0.5% or 1% formalin-induced acute nociception and long-lasting secondary allodynia and hyperalgesia. In contrast, exposition to toluene for 30min in rats previously injected (six days before) with 1% formalin did not affect long-lasting hypersensitivy. Local peripheral pre-treatment with alosetron (5-HT₃ receptor antagonist, 10-100 nmol) reduced the pronociceptive effect of toluene in acute nociception and long-lasting secondary allodynia and hyperalgesia. Alosetron (100nmol) was also able to reduce the nociceptive effects of 1% formalin in absence of toluene. Moreover, local peripheral injection of m-CPBG (5-HT₃ receptor agonist, 300 nmol) enhanced 0.5% formalin-induced acute and long-lasting nociception in air- and toluene-exposed rats. Alosetron (10nmol) blocked the pronociceptive effects of m-CPBG (300nmol) on 0.5% formalin-induced acute and long-lasting hypersensitivity in rats exposed to toluene. Alosetron (at 10nmol) did not modify formalin-induced nociceptive behaviors. Finally, local peripheral pre-treatment with methiothepin (non-selective 5-HT receptor antagonist, 1.5nmol), did not affect the pronociceptive effect of toluene on 1% formalin-induced acute and long-lasting hypersensitivity. Our data demonstrate that acute exposure to toluene has pronociceptive effects in formalin-induced acute nociception and long-lasting hypersensitivity. Our data suggest that this pronociceptive effect depend on activation of peripheral 5-HT₃, but not methiothepin-sensitive 5-HT, receptors.

The effects of alcohol history on the reinforcing, subjective and psychomotor effects of nitrous oxide in healthy volunteers

The purpose of this study was to characterize the reinforcing, subjective and psychomotor effects of nitrous oxide in healthy volunteers with different alcohol histories. Subjects were divided into two groups: light drinkers (n = 9) and moderate drinkers (n = 10). A choice procedure was used in which subjects first sampled placebo and a given concentration of nitrous oxide, and then chose between the two. Nitrous oxide concentration varied across the four-session experiment from 10-40%. Besides choice, subjective and psychomotor effects served as dependent measures. The majority of subjective effects of nitrous oxide, and its psychomotor-impairing effects, did not vary as a function of drinking group. However, a Wilcoxon rank sum test showed that the median number of times moderate drinkers chose nitrous oxide (three) was significantly higher than the median number of times light drinkers chose nitrous oxide (one). This study provides suggestive evidence that the reinforcing effects of nitrous oxide are modulated by alcohol history.

Function of the auditory system, the visual system, and peripheral nerve and long-term combined exposure to toluene and ethanol in rats

Male pigmented rats (n = 36) were exposed to toluene and/or ethanol (1000 p.p.m. toluene in the inhaled air 21 hr/day, and 5.7-8.0% ethanol in the drinking water continuously) during 8 weeks. Electrophysiological recordings were made 1 week after the exposure. Auditory sensitivity (auditory brainstem response) was reduced only after exposures including toluene. At 20 kHz, ethanol antagonized toluene-induced loss of auditory sensitivity (P < 0.05). Flash evoked potentials were not affected in any group. In peripheral nerve, exposures containing ethanol were followed by increased amplitudes of nerve and muscle action potentials. Exposures including toluene were followed by an increase in liquid consumption.

Effects of simultaneous ethanol and toluene exposure on nerve cells measured by changes in synaptosomal calcium uptake and (Ca2+/Mg2+)-ATPase activity

The effect of simultaneous exposure of rats to toluene and ethanol on synaptosomal calcium uptake and (Ca2+/Mg2+)-ATPase activity was studied. Rats were exposed to 500 p.p.m. toluene by inhalation for 12 hr a day during four weeks. During the exposure period, the rats had access to 5% sucrose solution containing 20% ethanol or to 5% sucrose solution alone. Rats drinking ethanol exhibited a smaller weight gain than rats drinking water alone. Furthermore, rats exposed simultaneously to toluene and ethanol had a higher ethanol intake than unexposed rats. The toluene exposure caused a higher synaptosomal calcium uptake in vitro. Ethanol intake did not change the synaptosomal calcium uptake in vitro. The synaptosomal calcium uptake in rats exposed to toluene and ethanol was nearly identical to that measured in control rats. In vivo exposure to toluene, or ethanol, or toluene/ethanol simultaneously did not affect the (Ca2+/Mg2+)-ATPase activity in vitro. Incubation with toluene in vitro decreased the (Ca2+/Mg2+)-ATPase activity in a concentration dependent manner. Ethanol had only a slight effect on the enzyme. Simultaneous incubation with toluene and ethanol showed an antagonistic effect of ethanol on the toluene inhibition of the ATPase activity.

Effect of toluene on ethanol preference in rats

The effect of toluene on the preference of ethanol was studied in rats. Toluene was administered orally by stomac tube in doses of 200, 400 or 800 mg/kg daily for 5 weeks or by inhalation at a concentration of 2000 p.p.m. 6 or 8 hr daily for 5 or 6 days per week for 2 weeks in rats of different age. During toluene inhalation exposure the rats had access to either tap water or ethanol-containing water (6 or 10%). After the exposure and during oral administration the rats had access to both ethanol-free and ethanol-containing water. Toluene inhibited the body weight gain in the highest oral dose group and in rats exposed to toluene and forced to drink ethanol in the inhalation experiments. In these experiments, the intake of fluid was reduced in the exposure period in rats forced to drink ethanol-containing water and further reduced in rats exposed to both ethanol and toluene. Exposure to toluene alone increased the fluid consumption. The preference of ethanol defined as consumed ethanol-containing water in per cent of the total water intake was not influenced by oral administration of toluene. It was, however, reduced by toluene given by inhalation to rats forced to drink ethanol-containing water during the exposure period. Toluene exposure alone or forced ethanol intake alone caused in these experiments a short-lasting reduction of the ethanol preference. It is concluded that toluene decreases the preference of ethanol in rats forced to drink ethanol during exposure to toluene.

Interactions between toluene and alcohol

Weanling male Fischer-344 rats were exposed by inhalation to air or 2000 ppm toluene for 8 hours each day for 2 weeks. Subgroups had access to water or 6% alcohol as their only fluid sources, respectively. Rats exposed to both toluene and alcohol subsequently showed a marked preference for 6% alcohol in two-bottle choice tests that persisted for up to 20 days for some rats. Rats exposed to toluene without access to alcohol and control rats (exposed to air and water) showed a marked aversion to the alcohol solution, and only 2 of 12 rats forced to drink alcohol without exposure to toluene preferred alcohol in the preference tests. Exposure to both toluene and alcohol also caused greater inhibition of weight gain than exposure to either substance alone, accompanied by greater signs of organ toxicity as indicated by clinical blood chemistries. Exposure to toluene caused marked hearing loss as assessed by a behavioral technique (conditioned avoidance), and there was a trend toward enhancement of this ototoxic effect by forced consumption of alcohol.

Toluene and ethanol effects on baboon match-to-sample performance: possible synergistic action

Four juvenile male baboons were trained to respond for banana pellet rewards on a match-to-sample discrimination task. Exposure of the animals to a range of concentrations of either toluene or ethanol vapor resulted in a slowing of response times and a reduction in the percent trials attempted for some concentrations of either vapor. When behaviorally ineffective (subthreshold) concentrations of each vapor were combined, effects upon response times and trials attempted were similar to the effects produced by the higher concentrations of the individual vapors. However, while high concentrations of ethanol vapor produced errors in half of the subjects, combinations of ethanol and toluene did not increase this effect. This information suggests an ethanol potentiation of toluene effects, rather than the reverse.