Abstract
Experiments were performed to study the individual and combined effects of amphetamine and imipramine in rats with lowered brain catecholamines or 5-HT levels. The stereotyped behaviour was studied employing the “Open Field” test apparatus. When the brain catecholamine level was lowered by α-methyl tyrosine, amphetamine failed to induce complex stereotyped behaviour, while disulfiram pretreatment did not significantly alter the complex stereotyped behaviour due to amphetamine. However, pretreatment with either α-methyltyrosine or p-chlorophenylalanine modified the effects of imipramine. Imipramine augmented the amphetamine induced stereotype behaviour. Pretreatment with α-methyl tyrosine, p-chlorophenylalanine or disulfiram altered the behavioural effects due to the interaction of imipramine and amphetamine. These findings suggest that catecholamines, particularly brain dopamine, play a greater role in the stereotype behaviour due to amphetamine and its augmentation by imipramine.
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Kulkarni, S.K., Dandiya, P.C. On the mechanism of potentiation of amphetamine induced stereotype behaviour by imipramine. Psychopharmacologia 27, 367–372 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00429390
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00429390