The time-course of ribavirin-provoked changes of basal and AMPH-induced motor activities in rats

The time-course of changes of basal and amphetamine (AMPH)-induced locomotor and stereotypic activities in adult male Wistar rats after a single ribavirin injection was studied. In the first set of experiments, 10, 20 or 30 mg ribavirin/kg body weight (b.w.) were injected i.p. to rats and their basal motor activities were recorded every 10 min for 2 h and compared with those of saline-treated controls. In the second set of experiments, the animals were pretreated with ribavirin and 20 min later i.p. injected with AMPH (1.5 mg/kg b.w.). The controls received AMPH 20 min after the saline injection. Motor activity was recorded after the first injection and until 120 min after AMPH administration. Ribavirin did not significantly affect the time-course of either basal locomotor or stereotypic activities. Pretreatment with any of the applied ribavirin doses decreased the AMPH-induced hyperlocomotor response. However, the most pronounced effect was observed with ribavirin doses of 20 mg/kg and 30 mg/kg when administered during the first 10 min and 30 min after the AMPH injection respectively. In contrast, the stereotypic activities of these animals were only slightly changed. These results indicate a different susceptibility of regions in the basal ganglia to ribavirin.