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Relationship between cerebral pharmacokinetics and anxiolytic activity of diazepam and its active metabolites after a single intra‐peritoneal administration of diazepam in mice
Author(s) -
Dailly E.,
Hascoët M.,
Colombel M. C.,
Jolliet P.,
Bourin M.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
human psychopharmacology: clinical and experimental
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.461
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1099-1077
pISSN - 0885-6222
DOI - 10.1002/hup.408
Subject(s) - oxazepam , diazepam , anxiolytic , pharmacology , chemistry , pharmacokinetics , sedative , active metabolite , metabolite , benzodiazepine , medicine , receptor , biochemistry
The relationship between the cerebral pharmacokinetics of diazepam and its active metabolites (desmethyldiazepam, oxazepam) and the anxiolytic effect evaluated by the four‐plates test and the light/dark test were investigated after a single intra‐peritoneal injection of diazepam (1 mg/kg or 1.5 mg/kg). For up to 30 min after administration, the sedative effect interfered with the anxiolytic effect, thus the results of the anxiolytic effect were not interpretable. From 30 min to 60 min after administration, this interference disappeared, the cerebral level of benzodiazepines was stable (the brain elimination of diazepam was compensated for by the appearance of desmethyldiazepam followed by oxazepam) but the anxiolytic effect decreased dramatically in all the tests with diazepam 1 mg/kg or 1.5 mg/kg. The acute tolerance to benzodiazepines and the difference of affinity for subtypes of GABA(A) receptors between diazepam, desmethyldiazepam, oxazepam could explain this result. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.