Postnatal behavioral effects of tranquilizers administered to the gravid rat

Gravid albino rats received reserpine, chlorpromazine, meprobamate, or a control injection of distilled water subcutaneously during one trimester of gestation on days 5–8, 11–14, or 17–20. A random sample of the surviving offspring selected at weaning was evaluated on measures of activity, emotional...

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Veröffentlicht in:Experimental neurology 1962-09, Vol.6 (3), p.263-269
Hauptverfasser: Werboff, Jack, Havlena, Joan
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:Gravid albino rats received reserpine, chlorpromazine, meprobamate, or a control injection of distilled water subcutaneously during one trimester of gestation on days 5–8, 11–14, or 17–20. A random sample of the surviving offspring selected at weaning was evaluated on measures of activity, emotionality, and audiogenic seizure susceptibility. Administration of transquilizers to the gravid animal resulted in alterations of behavior that persisted through adulthood. Evaluation of activity level on the inclined plane test at 25 days of age showed that the offspring of all of the drug-treated mothers were less active than control offspring. A similar decrease in activity and emotionality, as measured by responses on the open field test, was further observed when the animals were 55 days of age. Audiogenic seizure susceptibility, tested at 120 days of age, showed that the drug-group offspring were more resistant to audiogenic seizure stimuli than the control offspring. On all of these measures, no differences were found as a function of the trimester of gestation in which the drugs were administered. It was concluded that behavioral effects do result from the administration of tranquilizing drugs to the gravid animal, and that the behavioral changes induced are independent of the trimester of gestation and pharmacological differences between the drugs.
ISSN:0014-4886
1090-2430
DOI:10.1016/0014-4886(62)90007-9