To assess the safety of grape seed extract with less than 5.5% catechin monomers (IH636), 4 groups of male and female Sprague-Dawley rats were provided grape seed extract in the diet at levels of 0 (control), 0.5, 1.0, or 2.0% for a period of 90 days. All animals survived the duration of the study, and no significant changes in clinical signs, hematological parameters, organ weights, ophthalmology evaluations, or histopathological findings were observed. A significant increase in food consumption was observed in male and female rats provided the grape seed extract diets compared to that of the control rats, especially in male rats consuming 2.0% grape seed extract. This effect was not accompanied by increases in body weight gains. Grape seed extract appeared to increase the insoluble fraction of the diet. Male rats in the high-dose group exhibited decreased serum iron levels and decreased serum iron/total iron binding capacity ratio compared to those of the controls, although all values were within historical ranges for Sprague-Dawley rats. In conclusion, administration of the grape seed extract IH636 to male and female Sprague-Dawley rats in the feed at levels of 0.5, 1.0, or 2.0% for 90 days did not induce any significant toxicological effects.
I The effects of bilateral olfactory bulbectomy, sham-operation and inducement of peripheral anosmia were studied on locomotor activity, passive avoidance acquisition and irritability. 2 Bulbectomized rats were hyperactive, deficient at learning a step-down passive avoidance response and hyperirritable. Peripheral anosmia, induced by intranasal infusion of ZnSO4 solution resulted in no behavioural changes. 3 Chronic pretreatment with amitriptyline (3 and 10mg/kg) and a tetracyclic antidepressant mianserin (Org GB 94, 5 and 15 mg/kg) reversed the hyperactivity and reduced the learning deficit of bulbectomized rats. These drugs had no significant effects on sham-operated animals. 4 Neither amitriptyline nor mianserin reduced the exaggerated responses of bulbectomized rats to external stimuli.
5(+)-Amphetamine (1 and 3 mg/kg) accelerated the acquisition of the passive avoidance response, greatly enhanced the locomotor activity and slightly increased the irritability score of both shamoperated and bulbectomized rats. 6 Chlorpromazine (1 and 3 mg/kg) and chlordiazepoxide (10 mg/kg) significantly reduced the acquisition, locomotor activity and irritability of experimental and control rats. 7 Lithium sulphate (1 and 3 mg/kg) had no effect on activity or irritability but produced a small impairment in acquisition of bulbectomized rats. 8 It is concluded that the reversal by antidepressant drugs of the behavioural syndrome seen after olfactory bulb ablation could constitute a new model for the detection of this group of centrally acting compounds.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.