Lasting behavioral effects after treating rats with CGS 8216 on postnatal days 9 to 21

Abstract

The lasting effects of chronic exposure to CGS 8216 in early postnatal life were studied in the social interaction test of anxiety, the holeboard test of exploratory behavior, a startle test and on convulsions induced by pentylenetetrazole. Male rat pups were treated with CGS 8216 (10 or 20 mg/kg/day) from postnatal day 9 until weaning (day 21), and tested in adulthood. In the social interaction test, the pups that had been exposed to CGS 8216 during development showed increased social interaction in both unfamiliar and familiar test conditions, (particularly the latter), in contrast to the decrease in social interaction that results when CGS 8216 is given acutely to adult animals. Conversely, the developmentally-treated rats were more sensitive to the convulsant effects of pentylenetetrazole, and this effect is in the same direction as that seen in adults after acute administration. No effects of the early treatment were detected in adult animals in the holeboard or startle tests.