TRIMETHYLTIN-INDUCED HYPERACTIVITY - TIME COURSE AND PATTERN

  • 1 January 1982
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 4  (2) , 135-139
Abstract
Adult male Long-Evans rats were intubated with 0, 5, 6 or 7 mg/kg trimethyltin chloride [TMT]. Activity was measured for 1 h in a figure 8 maze 2 h after dosing (day 0) and on days 4, 8, 16 and 32 after dosing. On days 49-51, activity was measured in a figure 8 maze over 23 h. There were no differences in activity on the day of dosing, but on all subsequent test days the 7 mg/kg TMT animals were hyperactive. TMT also altered the spatial pattern of activity; activity was increased in the figure 8 portion of the maze but not in the blind alleys. Activity of the 7 mg/kg TMT animals was increased during all periods in the 23-h test. Decreases in the length of the pyramidal cell line (CA1-CA3c of the hippocampus) confirmed neuronal cell loss in TMT-dosed rats.