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Fluoride related changes in behavioral outcomes may relate to increased serotonin.
| Physiology & Behavior | Lu F, Zhang Y, Trivedi A, Jiang X, Chandra D, Zheng J, Nakano Y, Uyghurturk DA, Jalai R, Guner S, Mentes A, DenBesten PK. | 206:76-83.
*NTP2019 NIDCR grant NIEHS grant Behavior Brain Animal Study Human Study

Abstract

Highlights

  • Fluoride added to drinking water postnatally, resulted in reduced anxiety in mice.
  • Increased fluoride was associated with significantly increased serum serotonin in mice and in children.
  • Fluoride concentrations in brain increased with increased time of exposure.
  • Serotonin immunolocalization was increased in long term fluoride exposed brain.

Fluoride ingestion has been linked to changes in behavior in mice and rats, related to dose, sex of the animal, and the timing of exposure. Previous studies have shown the behavior of female rats to be most affected by postnatal fluoride exposure, and in this study we determined the effects of postnatal fluoride exposure on anxiety related behavior and serotonin. Mice given 50 ppm fluoride in drinking water had increased entries in the open arms of the elevated plus maze, suggesting reduced anxiety. Both peripheral and central serotonin was increased in the fluoride treated mice. In a cohort of children drinking water containing 2.5 ppm fluoride, serum serotonin was also increased as compared to controls. The mechanisms by which fluoride results in an increase peripheral and central serotonin are not well understood, but warrant further study, as these effects may also be relevant to prenatal fluoride related changes in behavior in both mice and humans.

Section snippets…

Discussion

The open field test measures spontaneous motor activity and exploratory behavior as measures of hyperactivity in animals [17]. We found no differences in the behavior of the control and fluoride exposed female mice after 7?weeks (49?days) in the open field test, These results are similar to those of Pereira et al., who found no differences in locomotion in the open field test in adult male Wistar rats given 100?ppm postnatal fluoride for 30?days [15], and McPherson et al., who found that male

Acknowledgements

This project was supported by NIH/NIEHS R21ES017813 to PDB, Bridge funding from the UCSF School of Dentistry, and the UCSF Center for Children’s Oral Health Research.

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Original abstract online at
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031938418309375

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