The effect of time following exposure to trimethyltin (TMT) on cholinergic muscarinic receptor binding in rat hippocampus.

Adult male Long-Evans rats were given 6 mg/kg trimethyltin (TMT). Rats were killed 1, 3, 7, 14, 21, 35, or 60 d later. An untreated control group was included. Brain sections were processed using film autoradiography to visualize in the hippocampus either total muscarinic receptor binding ([3H]quinuclidinyl benzilate; [3H]QNB), or M1 receptors ([3H]pirenzepine; [3H]PZ), or M2 receptors ([3H]oxotremorine-M; [3H]OXO-M). A reduction in [3H]QNB binding was found in CA1 and CA3c 7 d after TMT, but not in CA3a, b, or the dentate gyrus. [3H]PZ binding was decreased throughout Ammon's horn by 14 d after treatment. [3H]OXO-M binding decreased 1 d after exposure in CA1 and in all subfields of Ammon's horn by d 3. Neither [3H]PZ or [3H]OXO-M binding decreased in the dentate gyrus of TMT-treated rat at any time point. The temporal patterns of receptor loss may be explicable by reference to timing of fiber and cell body degeneration reported in previous studies and the regional differences may account for discrepancies between reports of either substantial decreases or no loss in hippocampal muscarinic receptors after TMT exposure.