Effects of anti-motion sickness drugs on motion sickness in rats.
Pica, the eating of nonnutritive substances such as kaolin, can be induced by rotation in rats. We used this rotation-induced pica as a behavioral index of motion sickness in rats and examined whether diphenhydramine, methamphetamine and scopolamine, which are anti-motion sickness drugs for humans, are effective for reducing motion sickness in rats. Intraperitoneal injection of diphenhydramine or methamphetamine suppressed the rotation-induced kaolin intake of rats. Intraperitoneal injection of scopolamine had no effect on the rotation-induced kaolin intake, but its transdermal administration reduced this kaolin intake. These findings show that human anti-motion sickness drugs also prevent motion sickness in rats. Since the pharmacological mechanisms for preventing motion sickness in rats and humans are similar, we conclude that rats are a suitable animal model for use in studies on putative anti-motion sickness drugs.
Morita
M
M
Department of Otolaryngology, Osaka University School of Medicine, Japan.
Takeda
N
N
Kubo
T
T
Yamatodani
A
A
Wada
H
H
Matsunaga
T
T
D000818:Animals; D004155:Diphenhydramine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007616:Kaolin; D008297:Male; D008694:Methamphetamine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009041:Motion Sickness / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010842:Pica / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012399:Rotation / Q000009:adverse effects; D012601:Scopolamine / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D007616:Kaolin; D008694:Methamphetamine; D004155:Diphenhydramine; D012601:Scopolamine