Anxiolytic and anxiogenic effects of diazepam in male mice with different experience of aggression.

Effects of diazepam (0.5 mg/kg intraperitoneally) on aggressive and anxious behavior were studied on male C57Bl/6J mice with different experience of aggression. Diazepam reduced aggression in animals with previous 3- and 20-day experience of aggression, but the plus-maze test revealed an anxiogenic effect of this drug in the former group and anxiolytic effect in the latter group. It was hypothesized that previous aggression experience modified animal sensitivity to diazepam. The effect of the drug depends on psychoemotional status of experimental animals, and this status differs in male mice with short- and long-term experience of aggression.