| RESEARCH PAPER |
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| Year : 1997 | Volume
: 29
| Issue : 5 | Page : 289-295 |
Effect of chronic rafoxanide administration on behavioural and physiological parameters in the rat
Nsimba ED Stephen, JP Kelly, BE Leonard
Correspondence Address:
Nsimba ED Stephen
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
Objective: To assess whether chronic rafoxanide adminstration would cause sensitisation or tolerance like other reported neuroleptic drugs to various behavioural and physiological parameters and colonic temperature to rats.
Methods: The study was done in adult male Sprague Dawley rats. They were chronically treated with rafoxanide in the doses of 1,3 and 10mg/kg i.p. for 3 weeks, and control animals received saline. Challenges of phencyclildine (PCP) 1, 3 and 10 mg/kg i.p. on day 17, amphetamine 5mg/ml on day 19 and apomorphine 1 mg/ml on day 21 were administered. The following parameters were studied during chronic administration of rafoxanide and after giving the challenges: (a) behavioural (catalepsy, locomotor activity, stereotypies and colonic temperature change) and physiological parameters (body weight, food and water intake).
Results: Chronic administration of rafoxanide had no effect on body weights, food, water intake and on catalepsy, while saline challenge to chronically treated rats 3 and l0mg/kg group showed a significant decrease in total activity. PCP challenge produced significant increase in total activity in all 3 groups (1, 3 and 10 mg/kg) chronically treated animals, whereas, amphetamine challenge had no effect on total activity in these animals. Apomorphine challenge produced a significant decrease in total activity in all groups of chronically rafoxanide treated animals. All challenges produced no change in behaviour except PCP challenge which produced significant effects on rolling behaviour which was increased in all the 3 groups. Chronic rafoxanide and saline had no effect on colonic temperature, while apomorphine challenge produced significant reduction in colonic temperature for all 4 groups of animals (saline group, rafoxanide groups of 1, 3 and 10 mg/kg).
Conclusion: Chronic rafoxanide treatment neither induced catalepsy nor DA-receptor sensitisation as indicated by changes in colonic temperature, behavioural and physiological parameters.
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