Effect of the benzodiazepine receptor agonist,zolpidem, on palatable fluid consumption in the rat

Two experiments examined the effect of the benzodiazepine receptor agonist, zolpidem, on palatable fluid intake in water-deprived rats. In the first experiment, pretreatment with 3.0 or 10.0 mg/kg zolpidem IP was found to increase consumption of a novel glucose drink (3% d-glucose and 0.1% sodium saccharine w/v in water). The increase in fluid consumption induced with zolpidem was comparable to the increases observed with diazepam and the benzodiazepine partial agonist, FG 8205. Experiment 2 demonstrated that this zolpidem-induced increase in drinking could be observed in both naive rats and in rats that had been habituated to the glucose drink and the testing environment: pretreatment with 3.0 mg/kg PO of zolpidem was found to increase fluid consumption in rats that had received either 0 or 8 days pre-exposure to the testing conditions. Contrary to earlier reports, these results support the conclusion that zolpidem, like other benzodiazepine agonists, can directly modulate ingestive behaviour.