Irritable aggression and open field behavior in rats given 2-phenylcyclopropylamines.

Adult male Wistar rats given an i.p. injection (3 ml/kg) of a 2-phenylcyclopropylamine (59 mumol/kg) were tested 3--5 h later for shock-induced aggression, jump threshold, stereotypic movement, rearing and ambulation. Shock-induced aggression was facilitated by trans-1-2-phenylcyclopropylamine (1-TPCP) and was suppressed by trans-d-2-phenylcyclopropylamine (d-TPCP). Neither drug affected jump threshold. The effects of 1-TPCP and d-TPCP on irritable aggression are discussed in terms of the effects of the drugs on monoaminergic mechanisms. A behavioral syndrome of increased stereotypic behavior of the serotonin-dependent type as well as decreased rearing and ambulation occurred in rats given d-TPCP, trans-dl-2-phenylcyclopropylamine, 2-(4-chlorophenyl)-cyclopropylamine and 2-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-cyclopropylamine, but not in rats given 1-TPCP, cis-dl-2-phenylcyclopropylamine, 2-(2-chlorophenyl)-cyclopropylamine or 2-(2,5-dichlorophenyl)-cyclopropylamine. The findings suggest that the behavioral syndrome depended in part on the absence of a chlorine substitution in the ortho position of the phenyl ring.