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Serotonin does not mediate anxiolytic effects of buspirone in the fear-potentiated startle paradigm: comparison with 8-OH-DPAT and ipsapirone

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Abstract

The present study evaluated the role of various neurotransmitter systems in mediating buspirone's blockade of the fear-potentiated startle effect, where acoustic startle amplitude is normally increased in the presence of a light previously paired with a shock. Large lesions of the dorsal and median raphe nuclei or IP injections of the serotonin antagonists cinanserin (10 mg/kg) or cyproheptadine (5 mg/kg) did not alter fear-potentiated startle, nor did these treatments prevent buspirone (5 or 10 mg/kg SC) from blocking fear-potentiated startle. The 5-HT1A agonist 8-OH-DPAT (2.5–10.0) did not block fear-potentiated startle even at doses that produced a marked “5-HT syndrome”. Another 5-HT1A agonist, ipsapirone (10–20 mg/kg), blocked potentiated startle only at a very high dose (40 mg/kg).p-Chlorophenylalanine andp-chloroamphetamine did not alter fear-potentiated startle. Finally, pretreatment with the benzodiazepine receptor antagonist RO-15-1788 (1 mg/kg); the opiate antagonist naloxone (2 mg/kg) or the α2-adrenergic antagonist yohimbine (5 mg/kg) did not reduce fear-potentiated startle, nor did they prevent buspirone from blocking fear-potentiated startle. Taken together, the data do not support the hypothesis that buspirone's anxiolytic effects are mediated by actions at 5-HT1A receptors and more generally indicate that serotonergic neurons do not play an important role in fear-potentiated startle.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ribicoff Research Facilities of the Connecticut Mental Health Center and the Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 34 Park Street, 06508, New Haven, CT, USA

    M. Davis, J. V. Cassella & J. H. Kehne

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  1. M. Davis
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  2. J. V. Cassella
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  3. J. H. Kehne
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Davis, M., Cassella, J.V. & Kehne, J.H. Serotonin does not mediate anxiolytic effects of buspirone in the fear-potentiated startle paradigm: comparison with 8-OH-DPAT and ipsapirone. Psychopharmacology 94, 14–20 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00735873

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