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Low Glucose Utilization and Neurodegenerative Changes Caused by Sodium Fluoride Exposure in Rat’s Developmental Brain

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Abstract

Fluorine, a toxic and reactive element, is widely prevalent throughout the environment and can induce toxicity when absorbed into the body. This study was to explore the possible mechanisms of developmental neurotoxicity in rats treated with different levels of sodium fluoride (NaF). The rats’ intelligence, as well as changes in neuronal morphology, glucose absorption, and functional gene expression within the brain were determined using the Morris water maze test, transmission electron microscopy, small-animal magnetic resonance imaging and Positron emission tomography and computed tomography, and Western blotting techniques. We found that NaF treatment-impaired learning and memory in these rats. Furthermore, NaF caused neuronal degeneration, decreased brain glucose utilization, decreased the protein expression of glucose transporter 1 and glial fibrillary acidic protein, and increased levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the rat brains. The developmental neurotoxicity of fluoride may be closely associated with low glucose utilization and neurodegenerative changes.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Grants from the National Nature Science Foundation of China (Nos. 81273021, 81072266, and 30972555) and the Foundation in the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2010DFB30530).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Health and MOE Key Lab of Environment and Health, School of Public, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Hangkong Road 13, Wuhan, 430030, Hubei, People’s Republic of China

    Chunyang Jiang, Shun Zhang, Cheng Zhang, Rongrong Lei, Tao Xia, Zhenglun Wang, Lu Yang, Yihu Chen, Xue Wu, Xiaofei Zhang & Aiguo Wang

  2. Department of Thoracic Surgery, Tianjin Union Medical Centre, Jieyuan Road 190, Hongqiao District, Tianjin, 300121, People’s Republic of China

    Chunyang Jiang

  3. Tianjin Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Huayue Road 6, Hedong Region, Tianjin, 300011, People’s Republic of China

    Hongliang Liu, Qiang Zeng, Yushan Cui & Linyu Yu

  4. Department of Pathology, Guiyang Medical College, Guiyang, 550004, Guizhou, People’s Republic of China

    Zhizhong Guan

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  1. Chunyang Jiang
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  2. Shun Zhang
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  3. Hongliang Liu
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  4. Zhizhong Guan
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  6. Cheng Zhang
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  10. Lu Yang
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  11. Yihu Chen
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  15. Linyu Yu
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  16. Aiguo Wang
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Correspondence to Aiguo Wang.

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Chunyang Jiang and Shun Zhang have contributed equally to this study.

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Jiang, C., Zhang, S., Liu, H. et al. Low Glucose Utilization and Neurodegenerative Changes Caused by Sodium Fluoride Exposure in Rat’s Developmental Brain. Neuromol Med 16, 94–105 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12017-013-8260-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12017-013-8260-z

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