Effects of Diazinon on Acetylcholinesterase(AChE) Activity in Bird Brain

To explore the toxic effects of diazinon on birds,avian oral and dietary toxicity test methods were applied to determine the effects of diazinon on AChE activities in the brain of three species of birds(quail,partridge and culver).In the test,quails and partridges were administered with forages treated with a series of concentrations of diazinon,and the exposure doses were 0、40、80、160、320、600mg·kg-1diet and 0、400、800、1600、3200、6000mg·kg-1diet,respectively.The quail experiment and the partridge experiment both lasted for 8 days.Culvers were exposed to diazinon by single oral gavage,and the exposure doses were 0、1.2、2.0、4.0、8.0mg·kg-1body weight.The culver experiment lasted for 15 days.Results showed that AChE activities in the brain of three kinds of birds were inhibited by diazinon to a certain extent:Compared with the control,the AChE activities of the dead birds in the exposure groups were significantly decreased(p0.05,p0.01),and the inhibition rates were all more than 40 percent.The AChE activities of the survival birds in the exposure groups were all decreased,but the differences were not significant(p0.05),and the inhibition rates were all less than 20 percent.The results implied that the inhibition of diazinon on AChE activities was one of the important causes for the death of birds.