Activity changes in rats following acute trimethyltin exposure.
The aliphatic organo-metal derivative, trimethyltin, causes marked morphological damage to the central nervous system (CNS), when the compound is administered by the intragastric route. This report describes certain behavioral consequences of [CH3]3Sn treatment. Either 7.0 mg/kg [CH3]3SnCl or 0.9% saline was injected intragastrically in male rats of Long-Evans strain divided into two equal groups of nine each. Forty days later open-field activity during a 2-min interval was measured for each rat. Following activity testing, the animals were trained to press a lever for food reinforcement on an ascending fixed-ratio series ranging from FR 2 to FR 99. The results showed that rats treated with [CH3]3SnCl were three times as active as controls in the open field, and emitted lever responses at a significantly higher rate than controls throughout the fixed-ratio series regardless of the reinforcement schedule. The possible neuropathological consequences and the relative permanence of the neurobehavioral changes following tin treatment are discussed.
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule; D014220:Trialkyltin Compounds / Q000633:toxicity*; D014298:Trimethyltin Compounds / Q000633:toxicity*
D014220:Trialkyltin Compounds; D014298:Trimethyltin Compounds