A teratology study of phenylpropanolamine in rats with postnatal behavioral evaluation

Tests were evaluated to determine their usefulness in a commercial testing environment for predicting behavioral deficits in offspring exposed to teratogens. Pregnant rats, receiving phenytoin at 200 mg/kg by oral gavage during organogenesis, served as the positive control group. Additional groups of rats received phenylpropanolamine (PPA) at 12 or 120 mg/kg (test material) or saline (negative control). Maternal data and offspring growth, survival and physical, sensory, activity and locomotor development were observed. In phenytoin-exposed pups, pivoting activity increased by 36 to 60% and delays in swimming ontogeny of 2 to 6 or more days confirmed the sensitivity of these tests. Tests for visual placing, olfactory orientation, auditory startle did not distinguish sensory deficits in either PPA- or phenytoin-exposed pups in this study. Depressed maternal gestational body weight changes and delays in pup growth and physical development were seen in the PPA high dose group.