Memory behavior in Wistar rats exposed to the pesticide fipronil

Abstract

Pesticides are used worldwide and widely in Brazil. The exposition of the man to these agents occurs mainly due to ambient contamination and occupationally. They provoke a variety of toxic effect in organism of mammals but the predominant effect of this chemical agents is of neurotoxicity. Between pesticides of last generation is included fipronil which being widely used in agriculture and in the prevention and control of ectoparasites that infest the animals (equine, bovine and domestic animals). Fipronil is a chemical agent derived from phenyl pyrazole known to cause neurotoxicity having their antagonistic action on gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA) as the main target for their toxic mechanism of action. The muscimol, a psychoactive substance found in mushrooms also acts on the GABA receptor however, in contrary to fipronil, have activating effects of GABA receptor (agonist). Physiological it is known that GABA it is involved in processes related to the formation and consolidation of memory. The goal of this project is to study experimentally in rats the effects of exposure to the fipronil pesticide together with muscimol, evaluating the responses of animals in relation to the memory behavior.