Nerve agents exposure physiology

Bloch-Shilderman, E., Rabinovitz, I., Egoz, I., Raveh, L., Allon, N., Grauer, E., Gilat, E., Weissman, B.A. (2008). Subchronic exposure to low-doses of the nerve agent VX physiological, behavioral, histopathological and neurochemical studies. Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol. 231 17-23. 

Since the major use of bioscavengers is prophylactic, it was essential to demonstrate that Hu BChE is devoid of undesirable effects. Thus, several studies evaluated behavioral and physiological effects of equine (Eq) BChE administered alone as well as prior to nerve agent exposure (Broomfield et al., 1991 Genovese and Doctor, 1995 Matzke et al., 1999). Administration of Eq BChE to rats (resulting in circulating BChE levels as high as -55 U/mL) did not affect acquisition or retention of a passive avoidance task or disrupt performance of a food-maintained... 

Exposures to nerve agents have also been associated with subtle neurological effects manifested as altered EEGs (Metcalf and Holmes, 1969 Burchfiel et al., 1976 Duffy et al., 1979 Duffy and Burchfiel, 1980) and psychological changes (Sidell, 1992). The reported EEG abnormalities have not been correlated with behavioral or physiological parameters. 

---