Morphometric studies of specific brain regions of rats chronically intoxicated with the organophosphate methamidophos.

Subtle neurological disturbances have been described in organophosphorus intoxication. Experimental studies have reported neuronal necrosis, particularly in animals experiencing seizures. The objective of the present work was to investigate if in rats (without seizures) exposed to an organophosphate agent, morphological changes occur in specific regions of the brain. The animals received 2.5 or 5.0 mg/kg methamidophos once a week for 2 months and were decapitated after 2 months 7 days of drug administration. We observed atrophy of the molecular layer of the parietal cortex without neuronal loss in specific cerebral regions. This would be due to atrophy or loss of neuronal ramifications but without neuronal loss.