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Jovita-Farias C, Follett ME, Dias-Junior BC, Serra YA, Kisaki ND, Barros-Santos T, de Jesus NMS, Rodrigues IRS, Macedo LEL, Malpezzi-Marinho ELA, Oliveira-Lima AJ, Marinho EAV, Rowlett JK, Berro LF. Individual differences in the effects of midazolam on anxiety-like behavior, learning, reward, and choice behavior in male mice. Front Psychiatry 2023; 14:1122568. [PMID: 36937711 PMCID: PMC10021295 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1122568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2022] [Accepted: 02/13/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction The aim of the present study was to investigate the behavioral effects of the benzodiazepine midazolam in male mice, in models of anxiolysis, learning, and abuse-related effects. Methods In a first set of experiments, male Swiss mice were submitted to the training session of a discriminative avoidance (DA) task on the elevated plus maze to evaluate anxiety-like behavior and learning after vehicle or midazolam (1, 2 or 5 mg/kg, i.g.) administration. The same animals were submitted to a conditioned place preference (CPP) protocol with midazolam (1, 2 or 5 mg/kg, i.g.). In a second experiment, outbred (Swiss) and inbred (C57BL/6) male mice were submitted to a two-bottle choice (TBC) oral midazolam drinking procedure. Animals were exposed to one sucrose bottle and one midazolam (0.008, 0.016 or 0.032 mg/ml) plus sucrose bottle. Results Midazolam (1 and 2 mg/kg) induced anxiolytic-like effects, and all doses of midazolam prevented animals from learning to avoid the aversive closed arm during the DA training session. Assessment of midazolam reward via the CPP procedure and choice via the TBC procedure showed notable variability. A 2-step cluster analysis for the CPP data showed that midazolam data were well-fitted to 2 separate clusters (preference vs. aversion), albeit with the majority of mice showing preference (75%). Correlational and regression analyses showed no relationship between midazolam reward and anxiolytic-like effects (time spent in the open arms in the DA test) or learning/memory. Two-step cluster analysis of the TBC data also demonstrated that, regardless of strain, mice overall fell into two clusters identified as midazolam-preferring or midazolam-avoiding groups. Both midazolam preference and avoidance were concentration-dependent in a subset of mice. Discussion Our findings show that midazolam preference is a multifactorial behavior, and is not dependent solely on the emergence of therapeutic (anxiolytic-like) effects, learning impairments, or on genetic factors (inbred vs. outbred animals).
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Affiliation(s)
- Caio Jovita-Farias
- Department of Health Sciences, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Ilhéus, BA, Brazil
| | - Meagan E. Follett
- Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS, United States
| | - Behaim C. Dias-Junior
- Department of Health Sciences, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Ilhéus, BA, Brazil
| | - Yasmim A. Serra
- Department of Health Sciences, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Ilhéus, BA, Brazil
| | - Natali D. Kisaki
- Department of Health Sciences, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Ilhéus, BA, Brazil
| | - Thaísa Barros-Santos
- Department of Health Sciences, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Ilhéus, BA, Brazil
| | | | - Isa R. S. Rodrigues
- Department of Health Sciences, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Ilhéus, BA, Brazil
| | - Larissa E. L. Macedo
- Department of Health Sciences, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Ilhéus, BA, Brazil
| | | | | | | | - James K. Rowlett
- Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS, United States
| | - Lais F. Berro
- Department of Health Sciences, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Ilhéus, BA, Brazil
- Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS, United States
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Sanchez WN, Pochapski JA, Jessen LF, Ellenberger M, Schwarting RK, Robinson DL, Andreatini R, Da Cunha C. Diazepam attenuates the effects of cocaine on locomotion, 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations and phasic dopamine in the nucleus accumbens of rats. Br J Pharmacol 2021; 179:1565-1577. [PMID: 34389975 DOI: 10.1111/bph.15658] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2020] [Revised: 07/23/2021] [Accepted: 07/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, there is no effective drug to treat cocaine-use disorder, which affects millions of people worldwide. Benzodiazepines are potential therapeutic candidates, as microdialysis and voltammetry studies have shown that they can decrease dopamine concentrations in the nucleus accumbens of rodents and block the increase in dopamine levels and appetitive 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) induced by amphetamine in rats. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH Here, we tested whether administration of 2.5-mg·kg-1 diazepam (i.p.) in adult male rats could block the effects of 20-mg·kg-1 cocaine (i.p.) on electrically evoked phasic dopamine signals in the nucleus accumbens measured by fast-scan cyclic voltammetry, as well as 50-kHz USV and locomotor activity. KEY RESULTS Cocaine injection increased evoked dopamine signals up to threefold within 5 min, and the increase was significantly higher than baseline for at least 75 min. The injection of diazepam, 5 min after cocaine, attenuated the cocaine effect by nearly 50%, and this attenuation was maintained for at least 40 min. Behaviourally, cocaine increased the number of appetitive 50-kHz calls by about 12-fold. Diazepam significantly blocked this effect for the entire duration of the session. Also, cocaine-treated rats were more active than controls and diazepam significantly attenuated cocaine-induced locomotion, by up to 50%. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS These results suggest that the neurochemical and psychostimulant effects of cocaine can be mitigated by diazepam.
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Affiliation(s)
- William N Sanchez
- Laboratório de Fisiologia e Farmacologia do Sistema Nervoso Central, Department of Pharmacology, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil.,Department of Biochemistry, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil
| | - Jose A Pochapski
- Laboratório de Fisiologia e Farmacologia do Sistema Nervoso Central, Department of Pharmacology, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil.,Department of Biochemistry, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil
| | - Leticia F Jessen
- Laboratório de Fisiologia e Farmacologia do Sistema Nervoso Central, Department of Pharmacology, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil
| | - Marek Ellenberger
- Behavioral Neuroscience, Experimental and Biological Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Marburg Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (MCMBB), Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Rainer K Schwarting
- Behavioral Neuroscience, Experimental and Biological Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Marburg Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (MCMBB), Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Donita L Robinson
- Department of Psychiatry and Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Roberto Andreatini
- Laboratório de Fisiologia e Farmacologia do Sistema Nervoso Central, Department of Pharmacology, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil
| | - Claudio Da Cunha
- Laboratório de Fisiologia e Farmacologia do Sistema Nervoso Central, Department of Pharmacology, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil.,Department of Biochemistry, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil
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