To investigate the effects of Acetamide at different doses on the expression of inhibitory amino acids (gamma-aminobutyric acid, GABA) and excitatory amino acid (glutamate, Glu) in the cerebral cortex of rats with acute tetramine (TET) poisoning. METHODS AND RESULTS: Eighty Sprague-Dawley rats (SPF) were randomly divided into five groups, with 16 rats in each group: saline control group, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) control group, TET exposure group, high-dose (2.8 g/kg/d) Acetamide treatment group, and super-high-dose (5.6 g/kg/d) Acetamide treatment group. Rats in the exposure group and treatment groups were exposed to TET by intragastric administration after fasting, and were then intramuscularly injected with saline or different doses of Acetamide in the following 5 days.The changes in the high-dose Acetamide treatment group were similar to those in the TET exposure group, but became more like those in the control groups after 48 h; the OD value in super-high-dose Acetamide treatment group was significantly higher than that in the TET exposure group at 3 h after treatment (P < 0.01), while no significant difference was found at 12 h; it was significantly lower than those of all other groups at 48 h and 7 d (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with high dose of Acetamide has some curative effect on TET poisoning-induced central nervous lesion, while the effect of super-high-dose Acetamide on expression of neurotransmitters is too complex to evaluate. |