Neurochemical effects of peroral administration of technical pentachlorophenol.

Administration of technical pentachlorophenol in drinking water (20 mg/l) to male Wistar rats caused significant liver concentration of tetrachlorophenol which remained stable during the exposure of 14 weeks. Pentachlorophenol and tetrachlorophenol accumulated to some extent in the perirenal fat whereas only pentachlorophenol could be found in brain. A period of four weeks of chlorophenol-free diet was sufficiently long to allow removal of the major part of the chlorophenol burden. The neurochemical effects included increased acid proteinase activity at the 8th week of exposure. It levelled off while superoxide dismutase activity increased to twice the control level. Glial glutathione peroxidase activity did not change whereas glial glutathione concentration was below the control range at the 12th week of exposure. Cerebral diaphorase activity was below the control range initially, and its activity increased above the control level during the recovery period whereas other biochemical changes levelled off.