title: Aspirin attenuates the anxiolytic actions of ethanol.
abstract: The present study examined the effect of aspirin on the anxiolytic action of ethanol. Previous research has shown that ethanol reliably produces an anxiolytic effect on rodent's plus-maze performance while aspirin has been demonstrated to attenuate several of ethanol's behavioral actions. Female Sprague-Dawley rats were given s.c. aspirin doses of 0 or 150 mg/kg, followed 30 min later by s.c. ethanol doses of 0, 1.0 or 1.6 g/kg. After 5 min, animals were tested in the elevated plus-maze. Although aspirin did not have a significant effect on anxiety-related behavior, it did attenuate the anxiolytic action of ethanol at the dose of 1.0 g/kg, but not at the 1.6 g/kg dose. Thus, aspirin by itself does not appear to possess anxiolytic actions, but does modify the anxiolytic actions of 1.0 g/kg, but not 1.6 g/kg ethanol.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Arlington, Box 19528, 76019, Arlington, TX, USA. labuda@imaginemail.com
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: LaBuda
authors.forename: P N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Fuchs
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000188:drug therapy*; D001241:Aspirin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016861:Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004347:Drug Interactions; D000431:Ethanol / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D016861:Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors; D000431:Ethanol; D001241:Aspirin