[The absence of reproducible effects from anxiolytics and anxiogens on the behavior of different strains of mice in a dark-light chamber]

Abstract

Experiments on 1,200 male mice (150 groups) of three strains (SHR bred from Swiss, C57BL/6 and CC57BR) were made during 4 years (1986-1989) to test five anxiolytics (diazepam, phenazepam, chlordiazepoxide, phenibut, buspiron) and ethanol, three anxiogens (pentylenetetrazol, caffeine, yohimbine) and three putative endogenous anxiogens (beta-phenylethylamine, kynurenine and quinolinic acid) using a dark-light chamber. None of the drugs administered within a wide dose range produced any stable reproducible effect on the number of transitions between two compartments or on the dark preference. Thus, the reported data on an increase in the number of transitions induced by benzodiazepine anxiolytics were not confirmed. The data obtained demonstrate that the dark-light chamber is not a reliable system for simulating anxiety in mice.