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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Acute and chronic effects of clomipramine on isolation-induced aggression in male mice

subject

description

The behavioral effects of clomipramine were studied on an ethopharmacological model of aggression. A range of low doses (similar to those used in clinical practice: 1.5, 3, and 6 mg/kg) and a higher dose (24 mg/kg—more usual in animal experimentation) were administered to isolated male mice that confronted anosmic opponents in a neutral arena. Encounters were staged 30 min after acute treatment and either 30 min or 24 h after the last drug administration in the chronic (21-day) treatment. Significant behavioral effects were observed predominantly with the highest dose. Acute and chronic effects were similar in the sense that both decreased aggressive behavior and produced some impairment of motor behavior, but differed in that such antiaggressive action was more potent in the chronic treatment, whereas the motility impairment was stronger in the acute one. The two chronic evaluations (at 30 min or 24 h) did not produce widely different results.