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Does the pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) cue reflect PTZ‐induced kindling or PTZ‐induced anxiogenesis?
Author(s) -
Andrews J. S.,
Turski L.,
Stephens D. N.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
drug development research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.582
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1098-2299
pISSN - 0272-4391
DOI - 10.1002/ddr.430160218
Subject(s) - anticonvulsant , anxiogenic , anxiolytic , stimulus control , kindling , pharmacology , anticonvulsant drugs , stimulus (psychology) , chemistry , medicine , epilepsy , psychology , neuroscience , receptor , nicotine , psychotherapist
The discriminative stimulus induced by a subconvulsive dose of pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) in rats is suggested to be anxiogenic in nature; therefore, antagonism of the discriminative stimulus indicates anxiolytic and not anticonvulsant activity. Repeated administration of subconvulsive doses of PTZ eventually leads to seizures, a process known as kindling. The effects of several anxiolytic and anticonvulsant drugs in antagonizing the discriminative stimulus in rats were compared with the effects of the same substances in preventing seizures in rats treated acutely with a high dose of PTZ or in rats exhibiting kindled seizures following repeated low‐dose PTZ treatment. Irrespective of status as an anxiolytic or an anticonvulsant substance, only compounds that antagonized PTZ‐kindled seizures antagonized the PTZ discriminative stimulus. These results illustrate the difficulty in separating the anxiolytic from the anticonvulsant properties of a substance in this model.