Sevy S, Brown S L, Wetzler S, Kotler M, Molcho A, Plutchik R, van Praag H M
Department of Psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY.
Psychiatry Res. 1994 Sep;53(3):219-29. doi: 10.1016/0165-1781(94)90051-5.
The effects of alprazolam, a triazolobenzodiazepine, on hormonal and behavioral responses induced by meta-chlorophenylpiperazine (MCPP), a serotonin receptor agonist, were investigated in 10 healthy men. Alprazolam (0.5 mg) or placebo was given 1 hour before MCPP (0.5 mg/kg) or placebo. Cortisol, prolactin, and growth hormone (GH) release, MCPP and alprazolam plasma levels, anxiety level, and panic symptoms were measured over 210 minutes. MCPP was found to increase cortisol, prolactin, GH, and anxiety levels. Alprazolam decreased cortisol and GH levels but had no effect on prolactin. When used in combination with MCPP, alprazolam blunted MCPP-induced cortisol and GH release, and it blocked the anxiogenic effects of MCPP.
