ToxSci Advance Access published online on July 26, 2007
Toxicological Sciences, doi:10.1093/toxsci/kfm187
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45Ca2+ Influx in Rat Brain: Effect of Diorganylchalcogenides Compounds








* Departamento de Análises Clínicas e Toxicológicas, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria – Santa Maria, RS, Brasil
Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil
Departamento de Química, Centro de Ciências Naturais e Exatas, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, Brasil
1 Correspondent author: Maria Beatriz Moretto, Departamento de Análises Clínicas e Toxicológicas, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, 97105-900 - Santa Maria, RS, Brasil, Beatriz{at}smail.ufsm.br, Fax: +55 - 3220 8018
Received May 2, 2007; revision received June 21, 2007; accepted June 26, 2007
| Abstract |
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In nervous tissue, the calcium (Ca2+) release induces neurotransmitter exocytosis and synaptic plasticity in neurons, and is essential for Ca2+ waves and oscillations in astrocytes. In this work, we have investigated the effect of organocalchogens on calcium influx in synaptosomal preparations under basal and depolarizing conditions. Acute administration of ebselen caused a significant increase of 34% (p < 0.05) Ca2+ influx, when under basal conditions, but showed no effect on potassium stimulated calcium conditions by brain synaptosomes. Diphenyl ditelluride (PhTe)2 increased 45 Ca2+ influx by 40% (p < 0.05) under depolarizing conditions, while diphenyl diselenide (PhSe)2 had no effect on the brain synaptosomes studied. In addition, we characterized an "in vitro" model with the purpose of studying Ca2+ movements in slices. In this model, we examined the effect of diorganylchalcogenides using brain hippocampal slices, which showed the decrease of calcium influx with the three drugs studied. These findings showed that there are different effects of diorganylchalcogenides in the different models evaluated. It is possible that these differential effects result from the action of neural signal transduction pathways at different levels, possibly involving neurotransmitter release and channel targeting
Key Words: calcium uptake; selenium compounds; tellurium compounds; slices; synaptosomes.