Abstract
Previous results have suggested that behavioural adaptation to restraint might be promoted by post-restraint stimulation of 5-HT 1A receptors. Therefore, rats were restrained for 2 h and injected with vehicle or 60–1000 μg/kg of the 5-HT 1A agonist 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino) tetralin (8-OH-DPAT) s.c. Vehicle-treated restrained rats showed reduced locomotor activity and increased defaecation in an open field test the day after the end of restraint. A single injection of 250 or 1 000 μg/kg 8-OH-DPAT attenuated these effects. The above locomotor deficits were also attenuated by chronic pretreatment with the antidepressants desipramine and sertraline but not by a single treatment with desipramine or the benzodiazepine anxiolytic drugs chlordiazepoxide and diazepam; none of these treatments unambiguously reversed stress-induced increases in defaecation. Evidence suggests that the above action of 8-OH-DPAT is mediated by 5-HT 1A receptors since it was antagonised by the 5-HT 1A antagonist spiperone but not by the 5-HT 2 antagonist ketanserin and was not mimicked by the 5-HT 1B agonist RU 24969. However, the 5-HT 1A agonists buspirone and TVXQ 7821 (ipsapirone) and the non-specific 5-HT agonist quipazine all possess similar properties to 8-OH-DPAT in this test. The results suggest that 5-HT 1A agonists may have rapid antidepressant properties.
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