title: Effects of anti-motion sickness drugs on motion sickness in rats.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Osaka University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morita
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kubo
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yamatodani
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wada
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsunaga
mesh_terms: 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*
chemical_list: D007616:Kaolin; D008694:Methamphetamine; D004155:Diphenhydramine; D012601:Scopolamine