Postnantal cerebellar hypoplasia and dysfunction following methylazoxymethanol acetate treatment (38495).

Swiss albino mice were injected postnatally with 0.05 ul of MAM-ac/g body weight. The mice were sacrificed at 0, 5,10, 15,20, and 25 days. Cerebellar, whole brain and body weights were determined. The treated mice generally showed smaller body weights reflecting the general toxicity of MAM-ac. There was no statistical difference between the whole brain weights of the two groups, when the loss of cerebellar weight was taken into account. Significant differences between the cerebellar weights of control and treated animals were shown at each sacrifice time. It is the conclusion of this study that those differences in weight reflect the destruction induced by MAM-ac during the first 5 days of postnatal life and are not due to a continued degeneration. As for general developmental and behavioral dysfunctions,the treated mice showed delayed eye opening and fur appearance, and by day 25, exhibited a tremorous altered gait.