Pharmacogenetic analysis of mechanisms of emotional stress: effects of benzodiazepines.

The effects of the benzodiazepine tranquilizer phenazepam (0.05, 0.075, 0.1 mg/kg) in the open field test of the mice C57Bl/6, BALB/c strains and their F1 hybrids have been studied. The tranquillizer produced a dose-dependent suppression of the locomotor activity of C57Bl/6 mice, while 0.05 mg/kg activated the behaviour of the BALB/c mice. The response to phenazepam of F1 hybrids resembled that of their C57Bl/6 parental strain, also in their pattern of the open field behaviour. Interstrain differences in the plasmatic levels of ACTH, corticosterone, cAMP and cGMP after the open field test have been detected. Interstrain differences in the modifications of [3H]-diazepam and [35S]-TBPS binding to brain membranes between C57Bl/6 and BALB/c mice, dependent on the -Cl ions addition, have been also found.