Effect of serotoninergic drugs on stress-induced hyperthermia (SIH) in mice.

8-OH-DPAT (2.5-10 mg/kg) and buspirone (10 mg/kg) but not 5,7-DHT (200 micrograms/mouse), pCPA (75 and 150 mg/kg, three times), ritanserin (0.1 and 0.2 mg/kg), LY 53857 (1.5 and 3 mg/kg), GR 38032 F (0.1-100 micrograms/kg), TFMPP (5 and 20 mg/kg) and mCPP (2.5 and 5 mg/kg) antagonized the rise in body temperature that occurs to the last mice removed from their group housing, which was termed as stress-induced hyperthermia (SIH). Ro 15-1788, at a dose which blocked the effect of diazepam on SIH, did not reverse the anxiolytic effect of buspirione. Instead, when cerebral 5-HT content was reduced to 50% by 5,7-DHT-induced lesion, the effect of buspirone on SIH was decreased. TFMPP 5 mg/kg did not shorten significantly the onset of SIH as could have been expected by an anxiogenic drug, while the dose of 20 mg/kg did not modify the pattern of SIH at all. The lower dose of TFMPP evoked a hyperthermic and the higher a hypothermic response.