Dermal Exposure to Tannery Effluent did not Alter Predictive Behavior for Depression in Male Swiss Mice

Tannery effluents constitute highly polluting residues, which can cause negative impacts to people’s health and the environment. However, studies that have investigated the effects of the exposure to these xenobiotics on the central nervous system of mammal experimental models are rare, the few that have been published focusing on the exposure via oral intake (ingestion of water containing tannery effluent concentrations). In this sense, and with the objective of expanding the knowledge beyond the neurotoxic effects observed when water contaminated by these xenobiotics is ingested, the depressive-like behavior effects of dermal exposure of male Swiss mice were analyzed. The animals were exposed to raw (wet blue-type) tannery effluent for one hour during five days, totalizing 20 days of exposure. Afterwards, the animals underwent the forced swim and tail suspension tests. Our data show that there were no significant differences between the time of immobility (forced swim and tail suspension test) of the animals of the different experimental groups [effluent group, control group (water) and control group (no water)]. Our data do not confirm the hypothesis that the dermal exposure to tannery effluent promotes behavioral alterations predictive of depression in mice, in period and under the experimental conditions established. Despite not having been highlighted different results between the experimental groups, it concluded that exposure defined protocol not characterized as a good model for studying the effects of dermal exposure to xenobiotic in question, requiring therefore new investigations.