Effects of methoxyflurane and flurothyl in mice trained to discriminate pentylenetetrazol from saline

Evans, EB; Balster, RL

HERO ID

5383083

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year

1992

Language

English

PMID

11224149

HERO ID 5383083
In Press No
Year 1992
Title Effects of methoxyflurane and flurothyl in mice trained to discriminate pentylenetetrazol from saline
Authors Evans, EB; Balster, RL
Journal Behavioural Pharmacology
Volume 3
Issue 5
Page Numbers 465-473
Abstract A procedure is described for training mice to discriminate 30mg/kg pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) from saline when lever pressing was maintained under a fixed-ratio 20 schedule of milk presentation. To define the pharmacological profile of the PTZ stimulus in mice, generalization testing was conducted with oxazepam and Ro 15-4513 (sarmazenil). Consistent with data obtained by others in rats, oxazepam (1mg/kg) blocked the PTZ stimulus whereas Ro 15-4513 substituted for PTZ, but only at a dose (2mg/kg) that also decreased rates of responding. The effects of both a depressant and excitatory vapor in this model were also determined. The volatile anesthetic methoxyflurane (1000-2000 ppm) blocked the discriminative stimulus effects of PTZ in a concentration-dependent manner, while the convulsant vapor flurothyl (900 ppm) produced greater than 90% PTZ-lever responding without disrupting rates of responding. The PTZ-like discriminative stimulus effects of flurothyl were dose-dependently blocked by oxazepam (0.03-1.0mg/kg). As has been shown in numerous previous studies in rats, PTZ could be established as a discriminative stimulus in mice. PTZ discrimination could be blocked by a benzodiazepine agonist and shares some properties with a benzodiazepine inverse agonist. Substitution and antagonism studies can also be performed with vapors, illustrating the utility of this model for comparing their behavioral effects to those of more widely studied drugs.
Pmid 11224149
Wosid WOS:A1992JW30400005
Is Certified Translation No
Dupe Override No
Is Public Yes
Language Text English