Premium
Behavioral effects of ivermectin in a freshwater oligochaete, Lumbriculus variegatus
Author(s) -
Ding Jing,
Drewes Charles D.,
Hsu Walter H.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1002/etc.5620200724
Subject(s) - ivermectin , crawling , biology , interneuron , crayfish , pharmacology , inhibitory postsynaptic potential , anatomy , zoology , ecology , neuroscience
Abstract Ivermectin is a potent antiparasitic drug against nematode and arthropod parasites. In this study, we examined the lethal and sublethal effects of ivermectin in a freshwater oligochaete, Lumbriculus variegatus. The median lethal concentration (LC50) at 72 h after ivermectin exposure was 560 nM. Sublethal endpoints focused on several stimulus‐evoked locomotor behaviors: escape reflexes controlled by giant interneuron pathways, swimming and reversal, and crawling. Swimming, reversal, and crawling are controlled by nongiant interneuron pathways. Ivermectin inhibited swimming, reversal, crawling frequency, and crawling speed in a time‐ and concentration‐dependent manner with a mean inhibitory concentration (IC50) at 3 h of 1.1, 16, 91, and 51nM, respectively. Ivermectin at 0.3 nM also significantly decreased the frequency of helical swimming waves. Picrotoxin, a Cl − channel blocker, antagonized the ivermectin‐induced decrease in swimming frequency, crawling frequency, and crawling speed. There were no adverse effects on escape reflex 3 h after exposure to 300 nM ivermectin. Electrophysiological recordings showed that ivermectin had no effects on the conduction velocity of giant fiber systems. The results indicated that locomotor behaviors controlled by nongiant locomotor pathways were more sensitive to ivermectin than pathways controlled by giant interneurons and that Cl − channels may be involved in mediating ivermectin's inhibitory effects.