Acute experimental tabun-induced intoxication and its therapy in rats.

Pharmacological pretreatment and antidotal treatment on tabun-induced neurotoxicity were studied in male albino rats that were poisoned with a lethal dose of tabun (280 microg/kg i.m.; 100% of LD50 value) and observed at 24 hours and 7 days following tabun challenge. The neurotoxicity of tabun was evaluated using a Functional observational battery and an automatic measurement of motor activity. Pharmacological pretreatment as well as antidotal treatment were able to reverse most of tabun-induced neurotoxic signs observed at 24 hours following tabun poisoning. However, there was not significant difference between the efficacy of profylaxis and antidotal treatment to eliminate tabun-induced neurotoxicity. The combination of profylactic pretreatment and antidotal treatment seems to be slightly more effective in the elimination of tabun-induced neurotoxicity in rats at 24 hours following tabun challenge in comparison with the administration of profylactic pretreatment or antidotal treatment alone. At 7 days following tabun poisoning, very few neurotoxic signs in tabun-poisoned rats were observed regardless of administration of pharmacological pretreatment or antidotal treatment. Thus, our findings confirm that the combination of pharmacological pretreatment and antidotal treatment is not only able to protect the experimental animals from the lethal effects of tabun but also to eliminate most of tabun-induced signs of neurotoxicity in tabun-poisoned rats.