Behavioral effects of pydrin and ambush in male mice

Male Swiss mice, 20-25 g, were utilized to assess the effects of dermal and oral administration of the pyrethroid insecticide formulations Pydrin (30% fenvalerate) and Ambush (25.6% permethrin). Animals were subjected to a conditioned taste aversion procedure using a normally preferred 0.3% saccharin solution. Subjects were allowed 30 min access to a drinking syringe containing the saccharin solution, followed immediately by the administration of the pyrethroid or control solution. Pydrin (0.3, 3.0, or 30 mg/kg orally; 60, 600, or 1800 mg/kg dermally) and Ambush (0.5, 5.0, or 50 mg/kg orally; 30, or 300 mg/kg dermally) produced significant (p less than 0.05) reductions in the percent saccharin consumed. Total fluid intake, however, was not significantly altered by any of the treatments. The effect of the insecticides on both grouped and individual activity was also assessed in 20-25 g male Swiss mice. Activity measurements were taken over the 4-hr time period immediately following the administration of the pyrethroid or control solution. Pydrin (30 mg/kg orally; 600 and 1800 mg/kg dermally) and Ambush (50 mg/kg orally; 300 mg/kg dermally) significantly (p less than 0.05) increased activity in both grouped and individually tested mice. When subjects were individually tested, significant increases were seen in non-ambulatory, but not in ambulatory activity. The results of this work indicate that administration of the commercially available preparations of Pydrin and Ambush in mice at doses that do not induce the tremor and choreoathetosis-salivation syndromes usually associated with pyrethroid insecticides may result in behavioral changes.