Lack of histological cerebellar changes in Wistar rats given pulegone for 28 days. Comparison of immersion and perfusion tissue fixation.

Pulegone was given orally by gavage to groups of 28 SPF Wistar rats at dosage levels of 0 or 160 mg/kg body weight per day for 28 days. Clinically treated animals showed slackness, depression, decreased food consumption, and body weight. The loss of body weight was accompanied by a marked decrease in plasma creatinine. In contrast to earlier results, this study did not reveal occurrence of cyst-like spaces in the white matter of cerebellum using either perfusion or immersion tissue fixation techniques. Pulegone increased plasma alkaline phosphatase and relative liver weight indicating an adverse effect on the liver.