Lorazepam treatment in the neonatal rat alters submissive behavior in adulthood.
Male hooded Lister rats were cross-fostered at birth (day 0) and reared in litters of eight. Within each litter, one pup was treated with each dose of lorazepam (0.25 or 1.25 mg/kg) and one was treated with the placebo vehicle. The pups received daily subcutaneous injections between postnatal days 7 and 21 inclusive. Starting on day 70 the animals were subjected to four tests of exploratory and social behavior: Open Field, Holeboard, Social Interaction and Home-Cage Aggression. The drug-treated animals showed an increase in submissive behavior, particularly when intruding into another animal's territory, but only minimal changes in their performance in the other three tests.
D000374:Aggression / Q000187:drug effects; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004291:Dominance-Subordination; D006801:Humans; D008140:Lorazepam / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012919:Social Behavior; D012930:Social Dominance
D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents; D008140:Lorazepam