Sex-Related Hyperthermic Response to Chlorpromazine in the Offspring of Rats Treated with Imipramine

Abstract

The body temperature in male rats bom to mothers treated with saline or imipramine (5 mg/kg, IMI-F(1)) from day 1 to day 21 of gestation showed a significant decline between 8 and 13 weeks of age. The magnitude of the decline was greater in the IMI-Fi rats than in saline-F, rats. In contrast, the body temperature in the IMI-F, female rats showed a significant rise between 8 and 13 weeks of age. Adult IMI-F(1) male rats showed a significant hyperthermia for 1-2 h after an injection of chlorpromazine while the littermate female rats and the control male and female rats showed a marked hypothermia. The results suggest that prenatal exposure to imipramine induces sex-related alterations in the thermoregulatory centers.

Prenatal Antidepressant Exposure: Clinical and Preclinical Findings

“…Adult male rat offspring prenatally exposed to imipramine displayed a baseline hyperthermic (difference of 1.31°C from controls) body temperature (Fujii and Ohtaki, 1985). Additionally, prenatal exposure resulted in a hyperthermic reaction to chlorpromazine (control rats were hypothermic in response to chlorpromazine), and this effect was observed on PND57 and persisted through PND90 (Fujii and Ohtaki, 1985;Fujii, 1997). Female control and females prenatally exposed to imipramine had a hypothermic response similar to male controls, indicating a sex-specific difference in thermoregulation in response to prenatal exposure.…”