The Effects of Environmental Toxins on CNS Function, Structure, and Development
Organisers: DesireTshala-Katumbay and Sharon L. Juliano
Industrial expansion and poor regulatory systems in the developing world
produce significant health threats associated with exposure to
neurotoxicants. These include several categories of substance including (i) solvents used in various industries such as spray painting and lamination, (ii) organophosphorus pesticides, which are heavily used in the US and the developing world, (iii) toxic gases and (iv) metals produced by incomplete combustion in poorly ventilated work spaces, cigarette smoke, or the burning of fossil fuel. All of these toxins have severe and detrimental effects on the CNS, but operate through different mechanisms, resulting in multifaceted problems. This Symposium will present research investigating the precise mechanisms underlying CNS damage through exposure to inhaled or ingested toxic substances ranging from (i) the understanding of mechanisms and biomarkers of n-hexane and diethylbenzene derivatives, which cause axon degeneration, (ii) the methods by which organophosphorous pesticides enter the CNS and result in cognitive and behavioral deficits, (iii) the findings that carbon monoxide inhalation during pregnancy results in impaired migration of neocortical neurons in the developing fetus, which is likely to lead to both subtle and obvious cognitive deficits, and (iv) the observation that the metal vanadium has specific toxic effects on oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, which can be alleviated by certain chelators and neuroprotectants. These studies underlie the serious nature of environmental toxins that affect the CNS in multifaceted ways and are unusually prevalent in developing regions of the world.
Speakers and Topics
Mechanisms and biomarkers of solvent-induced axonal diseases.
DesireTshala-Katumbay, Oregon Health & Science University , Portland , OR USA
Carbon Monoxide inhalation during pregnancy results in impaired migration of neocortical neurons and mild cortical dysplasia in the developing fetus
Sharon L. Juliano, USUHS, Bethesda , MD , USA
The neurotoxicogeneis of Vinadium, a crude oil pollutant
James Olopade, University of Ibadan , Ibadan , Nigeria
Biomarkers of organophosphorus pesticide-Induced neurotoxicity.
Fayssal M. Farahat, Menoufia University , Egypt |
