Neuropharmacology. 1992 Oct;31(10):991-5.
Influence of repeated treatment with buspirone on central 5-hydroxytryptamine and dopamine synthesis.

Tunnicliff G, Brokaw JJ, Hausz JA, Matheson GK, White GW.

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Evansville 47712.

The anxiolytic agent buspirone was administered subcutaneously twice a day for 10 days to Sprague-Dawley rats, at a dose of 3 mg kg-1. Controls were given saline. On the eleventh day, the rats were given an injection of NSD-1015, an aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase inhibitor, 30 min before decapitation. To another group of rats, only one injection of buspirone was given, followed 30 min later by NSD-1015. After a further 30 min the animals were decapitated. The brains were rapidly removed and the raphe nuclei, striatum, hippocampus and cerebellum were dissected out on to dry ice. With the use of HPLC, the four regions of the brain were assayed for 5-hydroxytryptophan and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine, reflecting the synthesis of 5-HT and dopamine, respectively. In those rats which had received an acute dose of buspirone, the synthesis of 5-HT was substantially reduced in all four regions of the brain. However, in those rats which had received buspirone for 10 days, no such alterations in the synthesis of 5-HT were observed. The synthesis of dopamine was unchanged in any of the regions of the brain, after the acute dose of buspirone. After 10 days of treatment with buspirone, however, the synthesis of dopamine in the striatum was significantly reduced. These findings suggest that repeated treatment with buspirone reduces the synthesis of dopamine in the striatum but that the synthesis of 5-HT is unaffected.

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Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1992 Nov;43(3):739-48.
Mechanistic investigation of the stimulus properties of 1-(3-trifluoromethylphenyl)piperazine.

Herndon JL, Pierson ME, Glennon RA.

Department of Medical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond 23298.

Using a standard two-lever operant procedure with rats trained to discriminate 1-(3-trifluoromethylphenyl)piperazine (TFMPP) (0.5 mg/kg) from saline, tests of stimulus antagonism and stimulus generalization were performed to better understand the stimulus properties of this agent. The agents examined for ability to antagonize the TFMPP stimulus were prazosin, quipazine, zacopride, buspirone, 8-hydroxy-2-(di-N-propylamino) tetralin (8-OH-DPAT), 1-(2-methoxyphenol)-4-[4-(2-phthalimido)butyl]-piperazine (NAN-190), haloperidol, and 1-(2-pyrimidinyl)piperazine (1-PP); only buspirone attenuated the response to TF-MPP. In separate experiments, the lowest nondisrupting dose of buspirone (1.2 mg/kg) caused a rightward shift of the TFMPP dose-response curve (TFMPP alone, ED50 = 0.19 mg/kg; TFMPP + buspirone, ED50 = 0.43 mg/kg). In addition, 3-(1,2,5,6-tetrahydropyrid-4-yl)pyrrolo[3,2-b]pyrid-5-one (CP 93, 129), 7-trifluoromethyl-4-(4-methyl-1-piperazinyl)pyrolo[1,2-a]quinox ali ne (CGS 12066B), 1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenyl)-2-aminopropane (DOI), 3-chlorophenylbiguanide (mCPBG), NAN-190, nisoxetine, zacopride, 1-PP, (+)-N-allylnormetazocine ((+)-NANM), and N-methyl-1-(3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl)-2-aminopropane (MDMA) were analyzed in tests of stimulus generalization. The TFMPP stimulus generalized only to CGS 12066B (ED50 = 4.2 mg/kg) and (+)-NANM (ED50 = 8.8 mg/kg). Tests with DOI and MDMA resulted in partial generalization. Up to doses that disrupted behavior, all other agents had little effect on TFMPP-appropriate responding. The results of these and other published studies suggest roles for 5-hydroxytryptamine 1B (5-HT1B), 5-HT1C, and, possibly, sigma-receptors in the mediation of the TFMPP stimulus a




Pain. 1992 Sep;50(3):365-72.
Putative mechanisms of buspirone-induced antinociception in the rat.

Giordano J, Rogers L.

Neuropharmacology Laboratory, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Drake University, Des Moines, IA.

Intraperitoneal administration of the serotonin 5-HT1A agonist, buspirone (1-5 mg/kg), produced dose- and time-related core hypothermia that was coincident with analgesia against a thermally noxious stimulus. Surface body temperature was not altered by buspirone. The 5-HT1A antagonist, NAN-190 (2 mg/kg, s.c.), blocked both hypothermic and analgesic effects, while systemic administration of the opioid antagonist, naloxone (1 mg/kg, s.c.), did not change the pattern of buspirone-induced hypothermia or analgesia. The apparent lack of opioid involvement and the documented role of the 5-HT1A receptor system in neuroendocrine substrates of thermoregulation and pain modulation prompted study of adrenal function in these buspirone-induced effects. Buspirone (5 mg/kg, i.p.) produced significant elevations in plasma epinephrine (EPI) and corticosterone (CST). Bilateral adrenalectomy reduced both control and buspirone-elevated EPI and CST levels and attenuated the antinociceptive, but not hypothermic, effects of buspirone (1-5 mg/kg, i.p.). Administration of the phenylethanolamine-N-methyltransferase (PNMT) inhibitor, dichloromethylbenzylamine (DCMB: 25 mg/kg, i.p.) reduced basal and buspirone-elevated plasma EPI, but not CST levels. This treatment did not affect buspirone-induced hypothermia, while significantly reducing buspirone antinociception. Pretreatment with the CST synthesis inhibitor, aminoglutethemide (AG: 2 x 25 mg/kg, i.p.), reduced plasma CST levels while not significantly affecting EPI. AG pretreatment did not alter the hypothermic effects of buspirone, but attenuated antinociception produced by the highest buspirone dose. The AG-induced reductions of buspirone antinociception were less than those effects produced by DCMB treatment. These data suggest tha




Jpn J Pharmacol. 1992 Oct;60(2):145-8.
The effects of the serotonin1A receptor agonist buspirone on the blood glucose and pancreatic hormones in rats.

Sugimoto Y, Yamada J, Kimura I, Watanabe Y, Horisaka K.

Department of Pharmacology, Kobe Women's College of Pharmacy, Japan.

The effects of the serotonin1A (5-HT1A) receptor agonist buspirone on the plasma glucose and pancreatic hormones insulin and glucagon were investigated in rats. Buspirone elicited significant hyperglycemia and hyperglucagonemia, although it did not affect the insulin levels. Adrenodemedullation inhibited both the increase in blood glucose and glucagon levels. These results indicate that buspirone-induced hyperglycemia and hyperglucagonemia are mediated by adrenaline release from the adrenal gland.

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Brain Res. 1992 Feb 28;573(2):190-6.
Serotoninergic depression of auditory evoked responses recorded in the rat hippocampus: effect of repeated buspirone treatment.

O'Connor JJ, Rowan MJ, Anwyl R.

Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.

Auditory evoked middle latency responses recorded in the hippocampus (HAER), were monitored in alert, gently restrained rats with chronic indwelling electrodes and cannulae. Intrahippocampal (i.h.) injection of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT, 10 micrograms) reduced the amplitude and increased the latency of the N28 and P55 peaks of the HAER. An early (P18) negative peak was unaffected. Buspirone (1 microgram, i.h. and 3 mg/kg, i.p.) had similar effects to those produced by i.h. 5-HT. RU 24969 (1 mg/kg, s.c.) also reduced the amplitude of the N28 peak of the HAER. Long-term treatment with buspirone for 14 days at a dose (0.5 mg/kg, i.p.) which when applied acutely did not produce any observable effect, caused an increase in the latency of both the N28 and P55 peaks. Direct i.h. injection of 5-HT into these chronically treated animals did not have any additional depressant effect on the HAER peaks. It is concluded that these serotoninergic agonists can modulate the later peaks of the HAER possibly via 5-HT1A receptors. In the case of buspirone there was evidence of an enhanced depressant effect following chronic treatment [corrected].

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Life Sci. 1990;46(3):197-205.
Effect of buspirone and its metabolite 1-(2-pyrimidinyl)-piperazine on hippocampal serotoninergic system, studied in freely moving rats.

Grazia De Simoni M, Imeri L, De Luigi A, Fodritto F, Garattini S.

Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Milano, Italia.

The effects of the anxiolytic drug buspirone and its metabolite 1-(2-pyrimidinyl)-piperazine (1PP) were studied on the serotoninergic system in the hippocampus of freely moving rats. Pulse voltammetry was used in association with chronically implanted carbon fiber microelectrodes to record 5HIAA, the serotonin metabolite in the extracellular space, almost continuously. Buspirone, 2.5 mg/kg i.p. was ineffective, but the dose of 10 mg/kg lowered 5HIAA between about 45 and 150 min; the same decrease was obtained with 40 mg/kg. This effect can be explained by an agonistic action on 5HT1 A receptors. The metabolite 1PP, which displays alpha 2 adrenoceptor blocking properties, either had no effect or raised extracellular 5HIAA, depending on the dose (1.5 or 6 mg/kg). The rapid metabolization of buspirone to 1PP can thus explain the short time course of the drug effect. Pretreatment with 1PP could only partially prevent buspirone's effect on the serotoninergic system.

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Br J Pharmacol. 1990 Feb;99(2):343-9.
Characterization of MDL 73005EF as a 5-HT1A selective ligand and its effects in animal models of anxiety: comparison with buspirone, 8-OH-DPAT and diazepam.

Moser PC, Tricklebank MD, Middlemiss DN, Mir AK, Hibert MF, Fozard JR.

Merrell Dow Research Institute, Strasbourg, France.

1. With radioligand binding techniques, MDL 73005 EF (8-[2-(2,3-dihydro-1,4-benzodioxin-2-yl-methylamino)ethyl]-8-az aspiro[4, 5]decane-7,9-dione methyl sulphonate) shows high affinity (pIC50 8.6) and selectivity (greater than 100 fold compared to other monoamine and benzodiazepine receptor sites) for the 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)1A recognition site; it was both more potent and more selective than buspirone in this respect. 2. In rats pretreated with reserpine, 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propyl-amino) tetralin (8-OH-DPAT) induced forepaw treading and flat body posture; in the same model, MDL 73005EF and buspirone showed minimal agonist activity and at high doses MDL 73005EF inhibited responses to 8-OH-DPAT. 3. In rats trained to discriminate 8-OH-DPAT from saline in a drug discrimination paradigm, both MDL 73005EF and buspirone generalized dose-dependently and completely to the 8-OH-DPAT cue. 4. To define the anxiolytic potential of MDL 73005EF, it was examined in the elevated plus-maze test and in the water-lick conflict test in comparison with diazepam and buspirone. In both tests MDL 73005EF induced effects similar to those seen following diazepam. Buspirone had similar effects to both MDL 73005EF and diazepam in the water-lick conflict test but opposite effects in the elevated plus-maze. 8-OH-DPAT also had opposite effects in the elevated plus-maze test to MDL 73005EF and diazepam. 5. The anti-conflict effects of MDL 73005EF were reversed by low doses of the 5-HT1A receptor agonist, 8-OH-DPAT; those of buspirone were neither antagonised nor mimicked by 8-OH-DPAT.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

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Br J Pharmacol. 1989 Apr;96(4):829-36.
Evidence that central 5-hydroxytryptaminergic neurones are involved in the anxiolytic activity of buspirone.

Carli M, Prontera C, Samanin R.

Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Milan, Italy.

1. A two-compartment exploratory test was used to assess the role of central 5-hydroxytryptaminergic neurones in the anxiolytic activity of buspirone in rats. 2. Buspirone 0.1 mg kg-1, administered subcutaneously 15 min before testing, significantly increased black-white transitions (BWT) in control rats but had no effect in animals injected intracerebroventricularly one week before with 150 micrograms 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (in 20 microliters). 3. Infusion of buspirone in the median raphe (but not in the dorsal raphe) significantly enhanced BWT, at doses from 1 micrograms to 10 micrograms (in 0.5 microliters). Buspirone 5 and 10 micrograms, but not 1 microgram, administered in the median raphe, significantly enhanced motor activity of rats during the first 10 min of testing in the activity cages. 4. The effect on BWT of 5 micrograms buspirone in the median raphe was completely antagonized in animals which had received either 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine intraventricularly, 150 micrograms (in 20 microliters), one week before or an infusion of 0.1 microgram (in 0.5 microliter) (-)-propranolol in the same area 5 min before. (-)-Propranolol infused in the median raphe did not modify the effect of buspirone on locomotion. 5. Infusion of 5 micrograms buspirone (in 0.5 microliter) in the median raphe significantly enhanced punished responses in a conflict test with no effect on unpunished responding. Buspirone infused in the dorsal raphe had no effect on punished or unpunished responding over a wide dose range. 6. The results indicate that at the relatively low dose used in the present study buspirone produces an anxiolytic effect by acting on central 5-hydroxytryptaminergic neurones.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

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