Abstract
It has been clinically reported that toluene causes mental depression in humans. However, the detrimental effects of toluene exposure on brain function and the relation between features of mental depression and toluene exposure are poorly understood. This study evaluated depression-like behaviors in adult C57BL/6 mice after administration of toluene, and elucidated the effects of classical antidepressants on the depression-like behaviors. For the estimation of depression-like behaviors, tail suspension test (TST) and forced-swim test (FST) were performed 1, 4 and 16 days after toluene (0~1000 mg/kg bw) treatment. In addition, classical antidepressants such as fluoxetine (FLX, 20 mg/kg bw) and imipramine (IMI, 40 mg/kg bw) were administered 12 h and 1 h before the tests. In the TST and FST, toluene-treated mice exhibited a longer duration of immobility than vehicle-treated mice 1 and 4 days after toluene treatment. The depression-like behaviors were significantly reversed by FLX and IMI. The weight of the adrenal gland and the size of adrenocortical cells were significantly higher in toluene-treated mice compared to vehicle-treated controls. It is suggested that acute toluene exposure of adult mice is sufficiently detrimental to induce depression. In addition, this study has established a mouse model for a depressive state induced by toluene treatment.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Anderson, C.E. and Loomis, G.A. (2003). Recognition and prevention of inhalant abuse. Am. Fam. Physician, 68, 869–874.
Aonurm-Helm, A., Jurgenson, M., Zharkovsky, T., Sonn, K., Berezin, V., Bock, E. and Zharkovsky, A. (2008). Depressionlike behaviour in neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM)-deficient mice and its reversal by an NCAM-derived peptide, FGL. Eur. J. Neurosci., 28, 1618–1628.
Balster, R.L. (1998). Neural basis of inhalant abuse. Drug Alcohol Depend., 51, 207–214.
Benignus, V.A. (1981). Health effects of toluene: a review. Neurotoxicology, 2, 567–588.
Berenguer, R., Soulage, C., Perrin, D., Pequignot, J.M. and Abraini, J.H. (2003). Behavioral and neurochemical effects induced by subchronic exposure to 40 ppm toluene in rats. Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav., 74, 997–1003.
Cruz, S.L., Soberanes-Chávez, P., Páez-Martinez, N. and López-Rubalcava, C. (2009). Toluene has antidepressant-like actions in two animal models used for the screening of antidepressant drugs. Pychopharmacology (Berl), 204, 279–286.
Fishbein, L. (1985). An overview of environmental and toxicological aspets of aromatic cydrocarbons II. Sci. Total Environ., 42, 267–288.
Grasso, P., Sharratt, M., Davies, D.M. and Irvine, D. (1984). Neurological and psychological disorders and occupational exposure to organic solvents. Food Chem. Toxicol., 22, 819–852.
Greenberg, P.E., Leong, S.A., Birnbaum, H.G. and Robinson, R.L. (2003). The economic burden of depression with painful symptoms. J. Clin. Psychiatry, 64, 17–23.
Gotohda, T., Tokunaga, I. and Kubo, S. (2005). Toluene inhalation-induced adrenocortical hypertrophy and endocrinological changes in rat. Life Sci., 76, 1929–1937.
Hsieh, G.C., Sharma, R.P. and Parker, R.D.R. (1991). Hypothalamicpituitary-adrenocortical axis activity and immune function after oral exposure to benzene and toluene. Immunopharmacology, 21, 23–32.
Kendler, K.S., Kessler, R.C., Walters, E.E., MacLean, C., Neale, M.C., Heath, A.C. and Eaves, L.J. (1995). Stressful life events, genetic liability, and onset of an episode of major depression in women. Am. J. Psychiatry, 152, 833–842.
Kim, L.S., Lee, H.J., Kim, J.C., Kang, S.S., Bae, C.S., Shin, T., Jin, J.K., Kim, S.H., Wang, H. and Moon, C. (2008). Transient impairment of hippocampus-dependent learning and memory in relatively low-dose of acute radiation syndrome is associated with inhibition of hippocampal neurogenesis. J. Radiat. Res., 49, 517–526.
Kondo, H., Huang, J., Ichihara, G., Kamijima, M., Saito, I., Shibata, E., Ono, Y., Hisanaga, N., Takeuchi, Y. and Nakahara, D. (1995). Toluene induces behavioral activation without affecting striatal dopamine metabolism in the rat: behavioral and microdialysis studies. Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav., 51, 97–101.
Lee, Y.L., Pai, M.C., Chen, J.H. and Guo, Y.L. (2003). Central neurological abnormalities and multiple chemical sensitivity caused by chronic toluene exposure. Occup. Med. (Lond), 53, 479–482.
Millan, M.J. (2004). The role of monoamines in the actions of established and “novel” antidepressant agents: a critical review. Eur. J. Pharmacol, 500, 371–384.
Murray, C.J. and Lopez, A.D. (1996). Evidence-based health policy - lessons from the Global Burden of Disease Study. Science, 274, 740–743.
Porsolt, R.D., Bertin, A. and Jalfre, M. (1977). Behavioural despair in mice: a primary screening test for antidepressants. Arch. Int. Pharmacodyn. Ther, 229, 327–336.
Riegel, A.C. and French, E.D. (1999). An electrophysiological analysis of rat ventral tegmental dopamine neuronal activity during acute toluene exposure. Pharmacol. Toxicol., 85, 37–43.
Seo, H.S., Yang, M., Song, M.S., Kim, J.S., Kim, S.H., Kim, J.C., Kim, H., Shin, T., Wang, H. and Moon, C. (2010). Toluene inhibits hippocampal neurogenesis in adult mice. Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav., 94, 588–594.
Stem, L., Chermat, R., Thierry, B. and Simon, P. (1985). The tail suspension test: a new method for screening antidepressants in mice. Psychopharmacology (Berlin), 85, 367–370.
Stice, B.D. and Dik, B.J. (2009). Depression among injured workers receiving vocational rehabilitation: contributions of work values, pain, and stress. J. Occup. Rehabil., 19, 354–363.
Tagliari, B., Noschang, C.G., Ferreira, A.G.K., Ferrari, O.A., Feksa, L.R., Wannmacher, C.M.D., Dalmaz, C. and Wyse, A.T.S. (2010). Chronic variable stress impairs energy metabolism in prefrontal cortex and hippocampus of rats: prevention by chronic antioxidant treatment. Metab. Brain Dis., 25, 169–176.
Unger, H.P. (2007). Work-related depression. Psychiatr. Prax., 34, S256–260.
von Euler, M., Pham, T.M., Hillefors, M., Bjelke, B., Henriksson, B. and von Euler, G. (2000). Inhalation of low concentrations of toluene induces persistent effects on a learning retention task, beam-walk performance, and cerebrocortical size in the rat. Exp. Neurol., 163, 1–8.
Yang, M., Kim, J.S., Song, M., Kim, S.H., Kang, S.S., Bae, C.S., Kim, J.C., Wang, H., Shin, T. and Moon, C. (2010). Cyclophosphamide impairs hippocampus dependent learning and memory in adult mice: Possible involvement of hippocampal neurogenesis in chemotherapy-induced memory deficits. Neurobiol. Learn. Mem., 93, 487–494.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
About this article
Cite this article
Yang, M., Kim, SH., Kim, JC. et al. Toluene Induces Depression-Like Behaviors in Adult Mice. Toxicol Res. 26, 315–320 (2010). https://doi.org/10.5487/TR.2010.26.4.315
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5487/TR.2010.26.4.315