Spinal reflexes in chinoform-administered rats

We examined the effects of chinoform (CF) on the spinal reflexes and the descending influences on the spinal reflexes from the locus coeruleus (LC) and the nucleus raphe magnus (NRM) in rats. The spinal reflex potential was recorded from the L5 ventral root following stimulation of the L5 dorsal root, and the effects of electrical stimulation of the LC and the NRM were tested in anesthetized rats. CF was suspended in Tween 80 and administered for two days (400 mg/kg, i. p./day) before the measurement of the spinal reflexes. In all rats treated with CF, death or motor incoordinations such as abnormal gait and hindlimb ataxia were observed. However, the control and CF-treated groups are not different in the amplitude and shape of the reflexes and in the influences of the LC and the NRM on the reflexes from the LC and the NRM. These results suggest that segmental spinal reflexes and descending influences from the LC and the NRM are not affected in rats suffered from motor incoordination by acute CF.