Reduction of submissive behavior in rats: a test for antidepressant drug activity. |
| |
Authors: | Ewa Malatynska Rachel Goldenberg Lucy Shuck Arif Haque Paula Zamecki Glenda Crites Nancy Schindler Richard J Knapp |
| |
Affiliation: | Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Indiana University of School of Medicine, Evansville Center for Medical Education, Evansville, IN 47712, USA. emalatyn@iupui.edu |
| |
Abstract: | Randomly paired rats were food deprived overnight and placed in an apparatus compelling them to compete for a food reward. About half of these pairs developed a dominant-submissive relationship measured as a significant difference in time spent on the feeder by each rat. This relationship developed over a 2-week period and remained stable for at least the next 5 weeks. Treatment of the submissive subjects, for at least 2 weeks, with imipramine, desipramine, or fluoxetine (10 mg/kg) significantly reduced submissive behavior. The effect faded after cessation of treatment with desipramine. Fluoxetine was further tested at 2.5- and 5-mg/kg doses and showed a dose-dependent reduction of submissive behavior. Treatment of submissive rats with the anxiolytic diazepam (1 mg/kg) was ineffective. The prevalence of dominant-submissive relationships and the effect of desipramine and imipramine on submissive behavior were gender independent. The predictive, face, and construct validity of the behavioral test is discussed. |
| |
Keywords: | |
|
|