Prenatal treatment with clomipramine has an anxiolytic profile in the adolescent rat.

The tricyclic anti-depressant clomipramine (3, 10 or 30 mg/kg/day) was administered to pregnant rats between days 8 and 21 of gestation. Male pups were cross-fostered at birth and raised in litters of eight. After weaning (postnatal day 21) the offspring were raised in an enriched environment and were then subjected to a variety of behavioral tests, lasting through adolescence (days 35 to 42), and repeated in adulthood (day 70 onwards). As has been found when imipramine was administered prenatally, the offspring showed decreased rearing and less exploration; however, the latter was entirely due to more rapid habituation to the test environment. The treatment produced an anxiolytic profile when the adolescents were tested in the Social Interaction test of anxiety. Effects did not persist into adulthood, although it may be that this was the result of repeated testing.