Acute and chronic effects of three benzodiazepines in the social interaction anxiety test in mice

Abstract

The effects on active social interaction of acute and chronic dosage with diazepam (1 mg/kg), desmethyldiazepam (2 mg/kg), and chlor-desmethyl-diazepam (0.125 mg/kg) were studied in pairs of mice. The mice were tested under either high or low levels of illumination. In all cases acute drug treatment significantly reduced social interaction, but this was not seen with chronic treatment (9 days). Two of the drugs, diazepam and desmethyldiazepam, showed an anxiolytic action, i.e., these drugs resulted in significantly less variation in social interaction with the change in light levels, compared with vehicle-injected controls.

The effects of novelty, isolation, light and ethanol on the social behavior of mice

“…In experiments 2 and 4, under low lighting conditions there was no effect of familiarity. De Angelis and File (1979) noted in pilot experiments that the familiarity manipulation did not appear to work consistently in mice, and our more extensive investigations support this observation. In the present study the high lighting manipulation only decreased social interaction when mice were in the unfamiliar testing condition.…”

“…In the present study the high lighting manipulation only decreased social interaction when mice were in the unfamiliar testing condition. De Angelis and File (1979) found that increasing the light level decreased the social behavior of mice who were familiar with the test arena (but not with each other). Since our mice were also familiar with one another when tested in our "familiar condition", this might explain the discrepancy between the studies.…”

Pharmacological Characterisation of a Modified Social Interaction Model of Anxiety in the Rat

“…Chlordiazepoxide (CDZP) and other ben zodiazepine anxiolytics have been shown to be active in this model only after subacute (5 day) administration [2][3][4], Following studies of the factors influencing social behaviours, we have recently introduced a social interac tion (SI) protocol in which classically described aggres sive behaviours [5][6][7] are separated, and benzodiazepines are consistently detected after their acute administration [8,9). In this protocol a 'balanced conflict' [10] may exist between the desire to socially interact and the aversion caused by the presence of a novel partner.…”

Appropriate end points for the characterization of behavioral changes in developmental toxicology.

“…The decline in social interaction induced by a novel environment or by high levels of illumination is prevented by anxiolytic drugs. Due to both the predominance of aggressive attacks in mice and their failure to respond to manipulations of the familiarity of the environment, this test does not seem to be applicable to this species (30,31). This procedure has frequently been used in developmental pharmacology and toxicology studies (23,32,33 …”