Exposure to cylindrospermopsin also induced damage to pulmonary parenchyma as indicated by the increased amount of alveolar collapse, PMN influx, and oxidative stress. In the lungs the toxin concentration decreased and in the liver it increased as a function of time. In the present study we used a sub-lethal dose (0.07 mg/kg) of cylindrospermopsin once human and animal exposures to non-lethal concentrations are more common than acute intoxications. Indeed, no death occurred during the experiments. The literature shows that LD50 of this toxin presents a toxicity that varies in the time of death according to the intraperitoneal dose in mice: 2.0 mg/kg BW causes death in 24 h and 0.2 mg/kg BW along 5–6 days (Norris et al.,

2002). selleck chemicals Hence, this may suggest its slow and progressive process of poisoning

in the face of sub-lethal doses. In fact, animal and human exposures to these doses occur more frequently than lethal events, damaging many organs, such as liver, kidneys, thymus, heart and lung (Falconer et al., 1999; Humpage and Falconer, 2003; Pegram et al., 2007). We could detect a higher concentration of cylindrospermopsin in the lung along the first 24 h after intratracheal instillation (Fig. 4), possibly due to the direct pathway of the toxin. Furthermore, we observed that the concentration in the liver increased significantly at 96 h after instillation. Since cylindrospermopsin was administered by the intratracheal route, it rapidly reached the lung, then going to the target organs, MK-2206 such as liver and kidneys. Considering OSBPL9 that the kinetics of cylindrospermopsin and its metabolites in the liver, and mainly in other organs and bloodstream, is poorly understood, the present work does not provide a proven explanation for the increase

in the toxin concentration in the liver at 96 h after intoxication. The kidneys seem to be the most sensitive organs in mice exposed sub-chronically to cylindrospermopsin (Humpage and Falconer, 2003), while the liver plays a key role in the metabolism of that toxin, with the involvement of cytochrome P450 (CYP450) enzymatic system. Froscio et al. (2003) observed protection from cylindrospermopsin toxicity by CYP450 inhibitors; thus it is possible that the early and higher toxicity is related to CYP450-dependent activation, once more toxic cylindrospermopsin metabolites can spread by the bloodstream (Norris et al., 2001). Indeed, these authors reported the presence of the toxin’s metabolites in the liver and kidney tissues of mice exposed intraperitoneally to radiolabelled cylindrospermopsin. According to Bryant and Knights (2010), the parent cylindrospermopsin can also enter the bloodstream and reach other organs. Unfortunately, there is no information in the literature concerning the bloodstream transport of cylindrospermopsin metabolites. The later toxicity would be a consequence of protein synthesis inhibition (Runnegar et al., 2002).