Abstract
Antidepressant drugs are effective in anxiety states, including panic disorder. Both clinical and animal studies indicate that l-sulpiride, at low, non-neuroleptic doses, has antidepressant activity. The present study examined the effect of an antidepressant dose of l-sulpiride (4 mg/kg per day SC), compared with a well-established antidepressant drug (fluoxetine, 3 mg/ kg per day SC), in a rat model of anticipatory anxiety/panic behavior: conditioned fear stress-induced freezing behavior. Long-term (26 days) administration of l-sulpiride almost completely abolished freezing, a similar effect being produced by fluoxetine (freezing duration, in seconds: controls, 148.1 ± 29.6; l-sulpiride, 27.5 ± 8.3; fluoxetine, 72.0 ± 15.2). The same doses of l-sulpiride (4 mg/kg SC) and fluoxetine (3 mg/kg SC) had no effect when administered for shorter periods (1, 5, or 12 days). No effect was produced by the long-term (26 days) administration of a neuroleptic dose of l-sulpiride (20 mg/kg per day SC). These results demonstrate that long-term administration of low, non-neuroleptic doses of l-sulpiride, is highly effective in an animal model of anticipatory anxiety/panic behavior.
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Received: 13 March 1998/Final version: 23 July 1998
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Cavazzuti, E., Bertolini, A., Vergoni, A. et al. l-Sulpiride, at a low, non-neuroleptic dose, prevents conditioned fear stress-induced freezing behavior in rats. Psychopharmacology 143, 20–23 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/s002130050914
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s002130050914