Anxiety in the rat is associated with decreased release of 5-HT and glycine from the hippocampus.
Rats, implanted with dialysis loops in the dorsal hippocampus, were injected with subconvulsant doses of pentylenetetrazole (PTZ 15 and 30 mg/kg) and a 30-min sample collected for high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of amines and amino acids. Immediately after the sampling period they were given a 5-min test in the elevated plus-maze. On the basis of their performance in this test, they were divided into an 'anxious' and a 'non-anxious' group. The anxious group had significantly lower levels of glycine and serotonin (5-HT) release. Although PTZ decreased the release of noradrenaline, this was not correlated with behavioural differences in the elevated plus-maze.
Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, University of London, U.K.
S E
SE
File
P F
PF
Curle
H A
HA
Baldwin
M J
MJ
Neal
D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000378:metabolism*; D005998:Glycine / Q000378:metabolism*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D007274:Injections, Intraperitoneal; D008297:Male; D010433:Pentylenetetrazole / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D012701:Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism*
D012701:Serotonin; D005998:Glycine; D010433:Pentylenetetrazole