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Cork gnawing in the rat as a screening method for buspirone‐like anxiolytics
Author(s) -
Pollard Gerald T.,
Howard James L.
Publication year - 1991
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.430220208
Subject(s) - buspirone , chlordiazepoxide , meprobamate , diazepam , alprazolam , pharmacology , anxiolytic , chemistry , oxazepam , chlorpromazine , imipramine , pentobarbital , anesthesia , benzodiazepine , medicine , serotonin , anxiety , biochemistry , receptor , alternative medicine , pathology , psychiatry
Male Long‐Evans rats were individually allowed access to No. 11 corks for 30 min per day. After 30 sessions, the mean amount gnawed away, 0.10 g per session, was stable enough to allow drug testing; it reached asymptote at 0.03 g after 140 sessions. Drugs were injected PO 30 min before testing, except as noted. On the asymptotic baseline, the novel anxiolytic buspirone (8–32 mg/kg) and its congener gepirone (8–32 mg/kg) produced large, doserelated increases in cork gnawing. The standard anxiolytics chlordiazepoxide (16–32 mg/kg) and meprobamate (128 mg/kg, 60 min pretreatment) and the new sedative zopiclone (4–32 mg/kg) also produced substantial increases. Diazepam, oxazepam, and alprazolam produced marginal increases, and pentobarbital had no effect at behaviorally relevant doses. The non‐anxiolytics d ‐amphetamine, chlorpromazine, acute imipramine, morphine (IP), and valproic acid either decreased or did not change cork gnawing. Phencyclidine (IP) and scopolamine produced marginal increases. Apomorphine (5 mg/kg SC) produced intense stereotyped gnawing of cage mesh but abolished gnawing of cork. Cork gnawing is proposed as a simple, economical behavioral method to identify buspirone‐like anxiolytics.