ArticlesBehavioural Effects in Mice of Subchronic Buspirone, Ondansetron and Tianeptine. II. The Elevated Plus-Maze
Section snippets
Animals
Subjects were adult male CD1 mice (Charles River, U.K.), weighing 23–45g and housed in groups of 10 (cage size: 45 × 28 × 13 cm) for 3 weeks prior to the experiment. They were maintained under a reversed 12h LD cycle (lights off: 0700h) in a temperature (21 ± 1°C)- and humidity (50 + 5%)-controlled environment. Food and water were freely available. All mice were experimentally naive.
Drugs
Drugs used were buspirone hydrochloride (Sigma, U.K.), ondansetron hydrochloride (formerly GR38032F; Glaxo Group
Results
Table 1 summarizes the main ANOVA statistics, and reveals significant treatment effects on several of behavioural measures. For clarity, the results of follow-up analyses are presented under appropriate sub-headings.
Discussion
The current study involved daily handling and injection of subjects for 21 days. In view of the possible impact of such experience on behavioural baselines [64], the design incorporated both saline-injected and uninjected controls. Our results (Table 2) confirm earlier findings [67]in that the chronic handling/injection regimen employed had minimal effect upon behavioural baselines in male CD1 mice. It is also pertinent to note that the behavioural profile of intact male CD1 mice in the
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by MRC. We are grateful to Glaxo Group Research (UK) and Servier France for the kind gifts of ondansetron and tianeptine, respectively.
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