The sedative effects of CL 218,872, like those of chlordiazepoxide, are reversed by benzodiazepine antagonists

Abstract

The effects of CL 218,872, initially classified as a non-sedative anxiolytic, were investigated and compared with those of chlordiazepoxide in the holeboard. The ability of two drugs that antagonise the effects of benzodiazepines, CGS 8216 and Ro 15-1788, to reverse the effects of CL 218,872 and chlordiazepoxide were also investigated, to see whether their effects might be mediated via benzodiazepine receptors. CL 218,872 (10 mg/kg) was found to be significantly sedative in both mice and rats (i.e., both locomotor activity and head-dipping were significantly decreased). In mice, the effects of CL 218,872 and of chlordiazepoxide were very similar over a range of doses, except that the stimulatory effect seen with low doses of chlordiazepoxide on head-dipping just failed to reach significance with CL 218,872. This study is in agreement with recently published results from different tests showing that sedative effects can be obtained with doses of CL 218,872 that are low and not much higher than those leading to anxiolysis. The sedative effects of both CL 218,872 (10 mg/kg) and chlordiazepoxide (20 mg/kg) were significantly reversed by RO 15-1788 (10 and 20 mg/kg) and CGS 8216 (10 mg/kg), suggesting that their effects are mediated via benzodiazepine receptors. The increase in head-dipping seen with chlordiazepoxide (2.5 mg/kg) was also reversed by RO 15-1788 and CGS 8216.