[Comparison of the effects of benzodiazepine and non-benzodiazepine anxiolytics on agonistic behavior in male mice].
The present study investigated whether there is any difference between the effects of benzodiazepine and non-benzodiazepine anxiolytics on agonistic behavior in male mice, using an ethopharmacological technique. Agonistic behavior was evoked using a resident-intruder paradigm. The effects of four doses of the following drugs were assessed in either resident or intruder mice: diazepam (vehicle, 1, 2.5 and 5 mg/kg, p.o.) and tandospirone (vehicle, 2.5, 5 and 10 mg/kg, p.o.). Residents and intruders were drugged on alternate test days, and all animals received different sequences of each of the drug conditions according to a random schedule. The injection-test interval was 30 min. When a resident mice were treated with either diazepam or tandospirone, the frequency of attack bite was suppressed significantly in a dose-dependent manner. When intruder mice were treated with diazepam, attack bites by untreated residents were significantly increased, whereas tandospirone was ineffective. Although diazepam caused a significant decrease in both locomotion and rearing, tandospirone did not cause motor dysfunction. These evidence indicate that tandospirone, a 5-HT1A receptor agonist, has different pharmacological properties from diazepam.
Central Research Laboratory, Ehime University School of Medicine, Japan.
H
H
Yoshimura
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K
Watanabe
D000378:Agonistic Behavior / Q000187:drug effects*; D000818:Animals; D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003975:Diazepam / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004924:Escape Reaction / Q000187:drug effects; D054833:Isoindoles; D008124:Locomotion / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D010879:Piperazines / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011743:Pyrimidines / Q000494:pharmacology*
D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents; D054833:Isoindoles; D010879:Piperazines; D011743:Pyrimidines; C055267:tandospirone; D003975:Diazepam