Comparative toxic effect of sumithion on rat and pigeon at the level of myelin.
Both rats and pigeons treated with sumithion, an organophosphorous pesticide, at a daily oral dose of one-tenth of the LD50, die after the 6th exposure. In spinal cord myelin of pigeon cerebroside, sulphatide and total protein contents decrease by 30, 15.7 and 40.8%, respectively, and cholesterol increases by 30% after 5 days of treatment; that of the rat shows none of these changes. Densitometric scannings of sodium dodecylsulphate-polyacrylamide gels of myelin proteins show a decrease in Wolfgram and proteolipid protein in rats and in pigeons up to 3 days; after 5 days this change continues only in pigeons, whereas rats show a normal pattern. The proteolipid protein and basic protein of both the species show increased mobility towards the anode up to 3 days, whereas after 5 days this trend continues in pigeons but not in rats.