Effect of acute and chronic treatment of rats with the putative anxiolytic drug ipsapirone on the turnover of monoamine transmitters in various brain regions. A comparison with the 5-HT1A agonist 8-OH-DPAT.

A fourteen-days treatment (twice a day) of male Wistar rats with the putative anxiolytic ipsapirone (10 mg/kg po) and the selective 5-HT1A agonist 8-OH-DPAT (1 mg/kg ip) induced changes in the turnover of serotonin and catecholamines in various regions of the brain. In contrast to 8-OH-DPAT, ipsapirone stimulated the development of tolerance in serotonin neurons in the hypothalamus, hippocampus, cortex and striatum. Nevertheless, adaptative changes were not produced by ipsapirone in dopamine neurons in the striatum or nucleus accumbens, or in noradrenaline neurons in the hypothalamus, hippocampus or cortex. The centrally active metabolite of ipsapirone 1-PP, which has adrenolytic properties, seems to be responsible for the effects on the dopamine and noradrenaline turnover.