Effects of two pyrethroid insecticides on motor activity and the acoustic startle response in the rat.

To better characterize the behavioral toxicity of pyrethroid insecticides, comparisons were made of the effects of cismethrin and deltamethrin exposure on motor activity and the acoustic startle response in male Long-Evans rats. Acute dose-effect, acute time course, and 30-day repeated-exposure determinations of 1-hr motor activity were made using figure-eight mazes. The acoustic startle response was measured to a 13-kHz, 120-dB(A), 40-msec tone at each of three background white noise levels (50, 65, and 80 dB). Deltamethrin (0, 2, 6, or 8 mg/kg) or cismethrin (0, 6, 12, 18, or 24 mg/kg) were administered po in 0.2 ml/kg corn oil. Cismethrin and deltamethrin produced similar dosage-dependent decreases in motor activity. The time course of onset and recovery for this decreased activity was rapid (1 to 4 hr) No cumulative effects on motor activity of a 30-day exposure to 2 mg/kg/day deltamethrin or 6 mg/kg/day cismethrin were found. The effects of cismethrin and deltamethrin on the acoustic startle response were dissimilar: deltamethrin produced a dosage-dependent decrease in amplitude and an increase in latency, and cismethrin produced an increase in amplitude and no change in latency. The differential effects of cismethrin and deltamethrin on the acoustic startle response may be related to the contrasting effects previously shown with neurophysiological and/or neurochemical techniques.