The effect of in vitro exposure to white spirit on [Ca2+i] in synaptosomes from rats exposed prenatally to white spirit.

Female rats were exposed to white spirit (400 and 800 ppm for 6 hr/day) at day 7-20 during pregnancy. Thirty-five days after birth all female offspring were sacrificed, the brains removed, and the synaptosomal fractions prepared for in vitro studies. The cytosolic calcium concentration was measured using the FURA-2 technique. The results show that cytosolic calcium was increased in synaptosomes from rats exposed to white spirit prenatally compared to synaptosomes from unexposed rats. When synaptosomes were exposed to white spirit in vitro, the cytosolic calcium concentration changes were identical in all groups of rats. The membrane leakage measured as FURA-2 leakage from the synaptosomes identical in all three groups of animals. The results suggest that prenatal exposure to white spirit induces long-lasting and possibly irreversible changes in calcium homeostasis in the rat nervous system.