Metoclopramide-induced central nervous system depression in the chicken

Metoclopramide is a dopamine D2-receptor antagonist used as an antiemetic and gastroprokinetic agent in man and animals. The drug causes sedation as a side effect in man. Such a sedative action of metoclopramide has not been documented in the chicken as the drug is not used clinically in this species. The present study examines the central nervous system depressant effects of metoclopramide in 7-14 days old broiler chicks.

Injection of metoclopramide at 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg, subcutaneously (s.c.) induced sedation in the chicks in a dose dependent manner. The chicks manifested, within 3.6-19 minutes of metoclopramide injection, signs of sedation characterized by drooping of the head and wings, closed eyelids, reduced motility and decreased distress calls. The duration of sedation ranged between 37.2 to 163.4 minutes. Metoclopramide at 100 and 200 mg/kg induced, within 12.2 and 6.2 minutes, sleep (loss of righting reflex) for 43.8 and 158.6 minutes, respectively. The median effective doses of metoclopramide for induction of sedation and sleep in the chicks were 11 and 53 mg/kg, s.c., respectively. Lower doses of metoclopramide (5 and 10 mg/kg, s.c.) significantly decreased the open-field activity of the chicks and increased the durations of their tonic immobility. All treated-chicks recovered from the central nervous system depressant effect of metoclopramide without any observable adverse effects.

The data suggest that metoclopramide induces central nervous system depression in chicks, and the drug could have potential clinical applications as a sedative-hypnotic agent in avian species not intended for human consumptions.