Intra-arterial injection of diisopropylfluorophosphate or phenylmethanesulphonyl fluoride produces unilateral neuropathy or protection, respectively, in hens.

Hens injected in one sciatic artery with diisopropylfluorophosphate (DFP) (0.184 mg/kg) developed monolateral ataxia on the injected side 10-12 days later. The inhibition of neuropathy target esterase (NTE) was 85% in the sciatic nerve of the injected leg and less than 60% in the contralateral sciatic nerve, in spinal cord and in brain. Other hens injected in the wing vein with the same dose of DFP showed low inhibition of NTE in the nervous system and did not develop delayed neuropathy. Hens injected in one sciatic artery with phenylmethanesulphonyl fluoride (PMSF) (1 mg/kg) and 24 hr later with high subcutaneous dose of DFP (1.1 mg/kg) developed monolateral ataxia 10-12 days later on the side not injected with PMSF. The level of NTE inhibition after PMSF was greater than 40% in the sciatic nerve on the injected side compared with less than 20% in other parts of the nervous system. The same dose of PMSF injected in the wing vein produced low NTE inhibition in the nervous system and failed to protect the animals from the same high systemic dose of DFP. We conclude that both toxic and protective effects of NTE inhibitors for delayed neuropathy are better related to the level of NTE inhibition in the peripheral nerve on the site of injection than to NTE inhibition in other parts of the nervous system. Furthermore we suggest that NTE inhibition should also be measured in the peripheral nerve in the standard toxicity testing for organophosphate-induced delayed neurotoxicity.