[Twenty-eight day repeated dose toxicity test of dicyclopentadiene in F344 rat]

A twenty-eight day repeated dose toxicity test of dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) was carried out in male and female F344 rats at the dose levels of 200, 40, 8 or 0 mg/kg/day. Thirty six animals of both sexes were divided into 6 groups of equal number. All groups were treated i.g. administration for 28 days daily, and two groups of them, at the dose levels of 200 and 0 mg/kg, were used for investigation of recovery. Inhibition of body weight gain was observed in the 200 mg/kg groups in both sexes and the 40 mg/kg group in male, but in female this inhibition was recovered at day 17 of the treatment. Increases in liver and adrenal gland weights, and decrease in thymus weight were noted in the 200 mg/kg groups in both sexes, and increase in kidney weight was also observed in the 200 and 40 mg/kg groups in male. On histopathological examination, hypertrophy of the adrenal cortex, and foamy cytoplasm in hepatocytes were observed in the 200 mg/kg groups of both sexes. Repair of histopathological lesions occurred within 14 days resting period. Based on these findings, it was concluded that the No Observed Effect Level of DCPD would be 8 mg/kg/day.