ABSTRACT
Pretreatment with fenfluramine (5 and 10 mg/kg, ip) in doses which induced head twitches was found to antagonize apomorphine-induced cage climbing behaviour and methamphetamine stereotypy in mice. Since fenfluramine (5 and 10 mg/kg) did not induce catalepsy it indicates that fenfluramine lacks postsynaptic striatal and mesolimbic dopamine receptor blocking activity and it is possible that the fenfluramine-induced enhancement of central 5-hydroxytryptamine neuronal transmission may be responsible for its antagonistic effect on apomorphine-induced climbing behaviour and methamphetamine stereotypy.
Subject(s)
Animals , Apomorphine/antagonists & inhibitors , Catalepsy/chemically induced , Fenfluramine/pharmacology , Humans , Male , Methamphetamine/antagonists & inhibitors , Mice , Stereotyped Behavior/drug effectsABSTRACT
Pretreatment with ethosuximide, a drug of choice for petit mal epilepsy, was found to inhibit the conditioned avoidance response in rats and the traction response in mice and to antagonise methamphetamine induced stereotyped behaviour in rats. Our results, which indicate the ethosuximide is capable of inhibiting the dopaminergically mediated behaviours, are in agreement with the recent reports stating that ethosuximide exerts central dopamine receptor blocking activity.