Effect of prenatal aluminium lactate exposure on conditioned taste aversion and passive avoidance task in the rat.

Pregnant SPRD rats were injected s.c. daily with 2.45, 4.9 and 9.8 mg kg -1 aluminium lactate or distilled water on gestational days 7-15. Gestational aluminium treatment had no effect either on litter size or the body weight of pups on postnatal day 1 but it decreased postnatal weight gain resulting in significantly lower body weight at weaning (postnatal day 22). It had no effect on the acquisition of a conditioned taste aversion, but in a passive avoidance task the learning ability of pups of dams given the top dose of aluminium was impaired.