[Pharmacological studies on the functional development of the central nervous system in first generation rats born to phenytoin-treated mothers (author's transl)].

We studied the effects of prenatal treatment with phenytoin (PHT) on the functional development of the rat brain. Pregnant rats were injected with varying doses (10, 50, 100 or 200 mg/kg) of PHT on days 1-21, 1-10, 14-21 or day 15 of pregnancy. There was no significant difference in the sleeping effect of pentobarbital, ataxic effect of diazepam, or seizure effect of pentetrazol between control-F1 and PHT-F1 rats. Prenatal treatment with PHT on days 1-21 of pregnancy induced a marked increase in the duration of haloperidol-induced catalepsy in the male and female F1 rats when tested once a week, beginning on the 9th week and until the 13th week after birth. Hypersensitivity to haloperidol was induced to a greater extent in females. On the other hand, prenatal treatment with PHT on days 14-21 or on day 15 of pregnancy induced a decline in the duration of haloperidol-induced catalepsy in both male and female F1 rats. There was no significant alteration in the growth of the PHT-F1 rats. However, their eye opening was accelerated. The present results suggest that prenatal exposure to phenytoin induces long-lasting alterations in the dopaminergic and/or other neurons related to the manifestation of cataleptic behavior in the rat brain.