Background: Chronic inorganic arsenic (iAs) exposure induces deleterious effects on CNS including oxidative stress, cognitive deficits and altered brain neurochemistry. Little is known about the association between iAs and estrogen receptor expression in brain regions.
Aims and objectives: Owing to the neuroprotective and estrogenic activities of resveratrol (RES), we examined the combined effects of arsenic trioxide (As2O3) and RES on neurobehavioural functions, estrogen signalling and associated neurochemical changes in mouse hippocampus.
Materials and methods: As2O3 alone (2 and 4 mg/kg bw) or along with RES (40 mg/kg bw) was administered orally for 45 days to adult female mice. From days 33 to 45, open field, elevated plus maze and Morris water maze tests were conducted to evaluate locomotion, anxiety and learning and memory. On day 46, animals were euthanized and brain tissue and hippocampi obtained therefrom were processed for atomic absorption spectrophotometry and western blotting respectively.
Results: As2O3 alone exposure resulted in enhanced anxiety levels, reduced locomotion and impaired learning and memory. As2O3-induced behavioural deficits were accompanied by downregulation of estrogen receptor (ERα) expression with a concomitant reduction of BDNF and NMDAR 2B levels in the hippocampus. However, the behavioural alterations and expression of these markers were restored in RES-supplemented mice. Moreover, a dose-dependent iAs accumulation was observed in serum and brain tissues of mice receiving As2O3 alone whereas simultaneous administration of As2O3 with RES facilitated iAs efflux.
Conclusions: These results suggest that reduced ERα expression with associated downregulation of BDNF and NMDAR 2B levels could be a mechanism by which iAs induces cognitive impairment; hence, the modulation of estrogen-NMDAR-BDNF pathway by RES represents a potential avenue to recover behavioural deficits induced by this neurotoxin.
Keywords: Arsenic trioxide; Cognition; Endocrine disruption; Estrogen; Hippocampus; Resveratrol.
© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.