Neurochemical effects of ethylhexyl nitrate in rats.

Rats injected i.p. with 100 mg ethylhexyl nitrate/kg body wt excreted 0.3% of the dose in the urine within 24 h. No urinary nitrite was found within 5 postinjection hours while an output of 26.9 +/- 15.8 micrograms nitrite/h X kg body wt. was detected between 5-24 h. Cerebral glutathione concentration was below the control level after 1 day but returned to control value after 3 and 7 days postinjection. Brain acetylcholine esterase activity was marginally decreased after 1 day while RNA and succinate dehydrogenase assay excluded major structural damage. It seems that the mechanism of clinical symptoms experienced by exposed workers are comparable to those exposed to dynamite and are largely functional.