Effect of some psychoactive drugs on stress induced alteration in plasma corticosterone level.

Psychoactive drugs such as chlorpromazine, fluphenazine, haloperidol, propranolol and diazepam were evaluated for their ability to block stress induced changes in Wistar albino rats. The stress induced changes were monitored as the difference in plasma corticosterone (PCS) levels, before and after the administration of minimum effective doses of psychoactive drugs. Significant results were obtained with diazepam at the dose of 5-10 mg/kg and to a lesser extent with propranolol 20 mg/kg. Other drugs, at their minimum effective doses showed no significant change in plasma corticosterone levels.