The benzodiazepine receptor partial agonist bretazenil and the partial inverse agonist Ro 15-4513: effects on salt preference and aversion in the rat

Multiple processes underlie benzodiazepine-mediated increases in the consumption of accepted and avoided stimuli

Hyperphagia is a reported side effect of anxiolytic benzodiazepines such as chlordiazepoxide (CDP). Prior research has focused primarily on the ingestive responses to sweet or solid foods. We examined CDP effects on licking for normally accepted and avoided taste solutions across a range of concentrations. The effect of CDP (10 mg/kg) versus saline on the licking patterns of water-restricted rats for water and 3 concentrations of sucrose, saccharin, NaCl, monosodium glutamate (MSG), citric acid, and quinine (Q-HCl) solutions was evaluated during 1 h tests. CDP increased meal size for all tastants except citric acid. Analysis of licking microstructure revealed 3 dissociable effects of CDP. CDP affected oromotor coordination as indicated by a uniform increase in the modal interlick interval for all stimuli. CDP increased meal size as indicated by shorter pauses during consumption of water, MSG, and weaker saccharin concentrations, and by fewer long interlick intervals (250-2000 ms) for normally avoided tastants. CDP also increased meal size by increasing burst size, burst duration, and the initial rate of licking for most solutions, suggesting increased hedonic taste evaluation. CDP did not affect variables associated with postingestive feedback such as meal duration or number of bursts, and the results also suggest that CDP did not enhance the perceived taste intensity. We hypothesize that the reduction of pause duration is consistent with an increased motivation to sample the stimulus that synergizes with changes in taste-mediated responsiveness to some but not all stimuli to yield increases in the consumption of both normally accepted and avoided taste stimuli.

Benzodiazepine effects on licking responses for sodium chloride solutions in water-deprived male rats

The aim of this study was to investigate, for the first time, the effects of a centrally active benzodiazepine receptor agonist, midazolam maleate, on the microstructure of licking responses for a range of sodium chloride (NaCl) solutions in mildly water-deprived male rats. Doses of midazolam were chosen (0.3-3.0 mg/kg. i.p.) which have been characterised in studies of licking responses for several different kinds of nutrients. NaCl concentrations (0.075 M-0.45 M) were chosen to cover a range of taste preferences and acceptability. A brief-contact testing session was employed to focus on the initial determinants of licking responses (i.e. taste palatability), and to minimise any contribution of post-ingestional effects. The results indicate the midazolam significantly increased the total number of licks recorded across all salt concentrations, but that it had no effect on the number of bouts of licking. Instead, midazolam specifically enhanced the mean duration of licking bouts, an effect that was most evident at the weaker but more acceptable NaCl concentrations (0.075 M and 0.15 M). In addition, midazolam diminished the intrabout rate of licking across all salt concentrations. These results confirm that benzodiazepines can exert a specific pattern of effects on the microstructure of licking for salt solutions. They are discussed in terms of the oropharyngeal stimulation controlling intake and the palatability or "liking" hypothesis for the effects of benzodiazepines on taste stimuli, and indicate that the hypothesis is applicable to salt solution ingestive behaviour.

Palatability-dependent appetite and benzodiazepines: new directions from the pharmacology of GABA(A) receptor subtypes

This paper updates an early review on benzodiazepine-enhanced food intake, published in the first issue of Appetite, and describes the considerable advances since then in the pharmacology of benzodiazepines, their sites and mechanisms of action, and in understanding the psychological processes leading to the increase in food consumption. A great diversity of benzodiazepine receptor ligands have been developed, many of which affect food intake. Agonists can be divided into full agonists (which produce the full spectrum of benzodiazepine effects) and partial agonists (which are more selective in their effects). In addition, inverse agonists have been identified, with high affinity for benzodiazepine receptors but having negative efficacy: these drugs exhibit anorectic properties. Benzodiazepine receptors are part of GABA(A) receptor complexes, and ligands thereby modulate inhibitory neurotransmission in the brain. Molecular approaches have identified a palette of receptor subunits from which GABA(A) receptors are assembled. In all likelihood, benzodiazepine-induced hyperphagia is mediated by the alpha2/alpha3 subtype not the alpha1 subtype. Novel alpha2/alpha3 selective compounds will test this hypothesis. A probable site of action in the caudal brainstem for benzodiazepines is the parabrachial nucleus. Behavioural evidence strongly indicates that a primary action of benzodiazepines is to enhance the positive hedonic evaluation (palatability) of tastes and foodstuffs. This generates the increased food intake and instrumental responding for food rewards. Therapeutic applications may derive from the actions of benzodiazepine agonists and inverse agonists on food procurement and ingestion.

Bidirectional modulation of sweet and bitter taste by chlordiazepoxide and Ro 15-4513: lack of effect with GABA drugs

Five rats were trained to respond for 10% sucrose and 10% sucrose/0.006% quinine in an operant procedure. Both solutions were concurrently available on independent, variable-interval 5-s schedules of reinforcement. Rats reliably responded for both solutions throughout the sessions and made approximately 68% of their total daily responses for the sucrose solution. When injected prior to the sessions with 4 mg/kg of chlordiazepoxide, rats selectively increased quinine responding; injections of the benzodiazepine inverse agonist Ro 15-4513 (9 mg/kg) led to decreased quinine responding. The effects of both chlordiazepoxide and Ro 15-4513 were reversed by the benzodiazepine antagonist flumazenil. Presession injections of flumazenil, muscimol, baclofen, or picrotoxin all resulted in no changes in responding, or a decrease in responding for both solutions. These results are discussed in terms of a bidirectional modulation of sweet-bitter taste preference by drugs acting on the benzodiazepine receptor. Moreover, the data from these experiments suggest that any changes in the oral consumption of alcohol following administration of benzodiazepine drugs must be examined in light of their effects on taste palatability.

Benzodiazepines and palatability: taste reactivity in normal ingestion

The taste reactivity (TR) test was devised as a method to obtain behavioural data in response to gustatory stimuli in neurologically impaired rats, incapable of voluntary feeding. Sapid solutions were infused through surgically implanted intraoral cannulae. Facial and motor responses corresponded well to known hedonic and aversive properties of tastes (e.g., sweet, bitter). TR testing has since proved effective as an adjunct to intake-based methods, in the psychopharmacology of ingestion in the normal rat. We developed a nonsurgical modification of the TR test, in which intact rats sampled stimuli voluntarily. The benzodiazepine receptor agonist midazolam (3.0 mg/kg, IP) was administered to rats first trained to consume a sweet 3% sucrose solution, and later tested with access to a bitter 0.01% quinine solution. Response were videotaped, and TR measures were scored during periods of noningestion using a frame-by-frame playback. Treatment increased ingestion and facilitated ingestive responses in accordance with published data for cannulated rats. Results support a two-component view of response palatability, in which treatment alters feeding motivation, increasing positive palatability and facilitating ingestion of both palatable and unpalatable stimuli.

Benzodiazepines, appetite, and taste palatability

Benzodiazepine agonists stimulate feeding in animals. This paper reviews evidence which indicates that benzodiazepine-induced feeding is due to a specific enhancement of the perceived palatability of food and fluids, and is not a mere secondary consequence of anxiety reduction. In studies of the effect of benzodiazepines on affective reactions that are naturally elicited from rats by tastes, we have shown that (a) benzodiazepines enhance hedonic taste palatability in a receptor-specific fashion; (b) the relevant receptors and the minimal neural circuitry required to mediate benzodiazepine-induced palatability enhancement both exist complete in the decerebrate brain stem; and (c) even in normal brains, receptors in the brain stem, not forebrain, are the primary substrate for the benzodiazepine-induced enhancement of taste palatability. We conclude that a 'benzodiazepine-GABA' neural system in the brain stem constitutes an important component of the neural hierarchy responsible for taste pleasure. The reason why benzodiazepine tranquilizers have not been reported to enhance palatability for humans may be that the appropriate studies have not yet been done, that human doses are low, and that the brain stem palatability system is less responsive to commonly prescribed agonists that are anxiety/arousal benzodiazepine systems. Finally, in keeping with the purpose of the symposium in which this paper was originally presented, we discuss a number of issues regarding the measurement and interpretation of taste reactivity data.

Effects of selective 5-HT1 receptor agonists in water-deprived rats on salt intake in two-choice tests

Twenty-two-hour water-deprived rats were divided into two groups: The first was given access to 1.8% saline and water in a 30-min two-choice test; the second was given access to 0.9% saline and water in the same type of intake preference test. Animals were tested following administration of several selective 5-hydroxytryptamine1 (5-HT1) receptor agonists. The results indicated a clear-cut distinction between the effects of selective 5-HT1A receptor agonists, on the one hand, and putative 5-HT1B/1C agonists on the other. Ipsapirone, gepirone, and 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino) tetralin (8-OH-DPAT) all showed evidence of increasing the consumption of 1.8% saline (less preferred to water) but had no effect on intake of the more preferred 0.9% saline. In contrast, 1-3-(chlorophenyl)piperazine (mCPP) and 1-(3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)piperazine (TFMPP) (5-HT1B/1C agonists) reduced intake of 1.8 and 0.9% saline in the two tests. One interpretation of these results is to assume that the 5-HT1A agonists act at inhibitory autoreceptors to diminish central serotonergic activity, while mCPP and TFMPP act postsynaptically to enhance serotonergic activity. The possibility is discussed that mCPP and TFMPP may act to increase the perceived salt concentration during drinking, whereas the 5-HT1A agonists may have the opposite effect.