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The effect of various antidepressant drugs upon the tetrabenazine-suppressed conditioned avoidance response in rats

  • Original Investigations
  • Animal Studies
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Abstract

Rats were trained in a three-chambered discrimination box to avoid an electric shock which was preceded by the presentation of light. Tetrabenazine, at a subcutaneous dose of 6 mg/kg suppressed this conditioned avoidance response (CAR) without abolishing the unconditioned escape response (UER). The three classes of antidepressant drugs affected differently the tetrabenazine-induced suppression of CAR. The tricyclic antidepressants, imipramine and desmethylimipramine (DMI), did not prevent the suppression of the CAR while the monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors, iproniazid and pargyline did. The stimulant drugs d-amphetamine and methylphenidate, in addition to preventing also reversed the effect of tetrabenazine. The action of two experimental compounds, butriptyline and Lu3-010 was also investigated.

The results are discussed in view of a possible relationship between the maintenance of the CAR and the availability of both norepinephrine (NE) and dopamine (DA) in the central nervous system.

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Abbreviations

5-HT:

5-hydroxytryptamine, serotonin

NE:

norepinephrine

DA:

dopamine

DMI:

desmethylimipramine

MAO:

monoamine oxidase

CAR:

conditioned avoidance response

UER:

unconditioned escape response

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  1. Department of Pharmacology, Ayerst Research Laboratories, Montreal, Canada

    K. Voith & F. Herr

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  1. K. Voith
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  2. F. Herr
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Voith, K., Herr, F. The effect of various antidepressant drugs upon the tetrabenazine-suppressed conditioned avoidance response in rats. Psychopharmacologia 20, 253–265 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00402101

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00402101

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