title: Conditional attenuation of the antipentylenetetrazol activity of chlordiazepoxide.
abstract: In a study of drug-drug conditioning, chlordiazepoxide (CDP) was administered to rats 30 min before chlorpromazine (CPZ) every 3-4 days for 5 weeks. Thereafter, CDP was tested for its ability to a) increase animals' exploration of the normally avoided "exposed" arms of a plus-maze (a screening method for anxiolytic substances) and b) protect against seizures induced by pentylenetetrazol (PTZ). The CDP-CPZ conditioning procedure potentiated the usual increase in open-arm activity seen in CDP-injected rats but attenuated the anti-PTZ effect. When injected with CDP 60 min prior to PTZ, rats with a previous history of CDP-CPZ pairings had shorter latencies to seizure onset and showed a greater likelihood of progression to the most severe behavioral indices of a maximal seizure relative to control subjects with a history of backward drug pairings (CPZ-CDP) or pairings of CDP with isotonic saline.
authors.affiliation: Florence M. Christie Laboratory for Life Sciences, University of New Brunswick, Saint John, Canada.
authors.forename: H K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Taukulis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D002707:Chlordiazepoxide / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002746:Chlorpromazine / Q000494:pharmacology; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000187:drug effects*; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D007858:Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D010433:Pentylenetetrazole / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D012640:Seizures / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000517:prevention & control
chemical_list: D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents; D002707:Chlordiazepoxide; D002746:Chlorpromazine; D010433:Pentylenetetrazole