Behavioral responses of rats exposed to long-term dietary vinclozolin

Vinclozolin is a fungicide used on food crops with human exposure estimated at similar to2 mug/kg/day from ingestion; occupational exposure, however, may be greater. The metabolites of vinclozolin have been reported to act as antiandrogens and have adverse effects on reproductive physiology and beha vior in animals. Here, pregnant rats were fed soy-free diets containing 0, 10, 150, or 750 ppm of vinclozolin (approximately 0, 0.8, 12, and 60 mg/kg/ day for an adult) beginning on gestational day 7, and offspring were contin ued on these diets through sacrifice at postnatal day 77. Male and female o ffspring were assessed for changes in several nonreproductive sexually dimo rphic behaviors: open field and running wheel locomotor activity, play beha vior, and consumption of saccharin- and sodium chloride-flavored solutions. There was a significant interaction of sex with vinclozolin exposure on ru nning wheel activity, which indicated that females in the high-dose exposur e group were hypoactive compared to same-sex controls. There was a signific ant overall effect of vinclozolin exposure on fluid consumption, and high-d ose animals showed increased intake of the saccharin solution and decreased intake of plain water while saccharin was available. Effects were more pro nounced in females, which drank 40.8% more saccharin than control females, whereas males drank 6.2% more than control males. There were no effects of vinclozolin treatment on play behavior or sodium solution intake. Gestation al duration, total and live pups per litter, litter sex ratios, and birth w eight were also not significantly affected, nor were body weight and food i ntake for dams and offspring. These results indicate that long-term dietary exposure to vinclozolin does not have severe toxicological consequences on the nonreproductive behaviors measured here. However, exposure may cause s ubtle alterations in locomotor activity and consumption of saccharin-flavor ed solution.