title: Some behavioral effects of the pesticide amitraz.
abstract: Acute oral administration of the pesticide amitraz at the doses of 60 and 100 mg/kg (N = 10 per group) significantly decreased the rearing frequency of rats observed in an open field to 8 +/- 8 and 5 +/- 5, respectively, when compared to 28 +/- 5 for control rats treated with vehicle only. The same doses of amitraz (N = 10 per group) increased duration of immobility to 80 +/- 50 and 113 +/- 64 s, respectively, when compared to 113 +/- 64 s for the controls. Acute oral administration of amitraz (20, 60 or 100 mg/kg, N = 10 per group) significantly increased the convulsive threshold dose of rats for strychnine, picrotoxin and pentylenetetrazole. Amitraz administered ip to mice at the doses of 20, 60 and 100 mg/kg (N = 10 per group) significantly increased sleeping time in a dose-dependent manner to 96 +/- 26, 120 +/- 29 and 198 +/- 58 min, respectively, when compared to 45 +/- 15 min for control mice treated with vehicle only. These results indicate that amitraz produces a depressant effect on the central nervous system.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Patologia, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Flório
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sakate
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Palermo-Neto
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects*; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000187:drug effects; D003292:Convulsants / Q000494:pharmacology; D003864:Depression, Chemical; D007306:Insecticides / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008124:Locomotion / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D011187:Posture; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D014052:Toluidines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D003292:Convulsants; D007306:Insecticides; D014052:Toluidines; C014983:amitraz