A Test of the Predictive Validity of Animal Models of Schizophrenia Based on Phencyclidine and D-Amphetamine

Abstract

Antipsychotic drugs can inhibit the effects of phencyclidine (PCP) and d-amphetamine (AMPH) in many rodent tests, but the effects are usually seen at doses that also affect vehicle-treated control rats, suggesting that the inhibition may be nonspecific. This study will attempt to test the predictive validity of these models based on the clinical observations that antipsychotics are not fully effective until after 2–3 weeks of administration in patients and that patients do not relapse immediately following abrupt withdrawal of medication. Haloperidol and clozapine were tested in rats after daily administration for 3 and 21 days in combination with vehicle or PCP (2.0 mg/kg) in the social interaction test, and with vehicle or AMPH (0.5 mg/kg) in standard activity cages. To separate acute from more long-lasting effects on the central nervous system (CNS) haloperidol and clozapine were tested with a short (45 or 30 min depending upon test) and a long (22–24 h) pretreatment time. The results demonstrated that haloperidol and clozapine following both 3 and 21 days of administration at the short pretreatment time inhibited the activity of vehicle-, PCP-, and AMPH-treated rats, whereas neither drug had consistent effects in any group at the long pre-treatment time. The data suggest that antipsychotics only inhibit PCP- and AMPH-induced behaviors in rodents by an acute drug-drug interaction, whereas any long-term effects of antipsychotic drug administration on the CNS cannot be revealed by PCP and AMPH in rodents.