The NK1 receptor antagonist NKP608 lacks anxiolytic-like activity in Swiss-Webster mice exposed to the elevated plus-maze

Abstract

The selective non-peptide NK1 receptor antagonist NKP608 has been shown to exert potent anxiolytic-like effects in the rat and gerbil social interaction tests. In vitro binding of NKP608 in cortical, striatal and rest-of-brain tissue samples from mice, rats and gerbils indicated comparable pIC50 values for rats and mice (in all three tissues) and only slightly higher values for gerbils. It would therefore be expected that doses previously found to produce anxiolytic-like effects in rats and gerbils would also be active in mice. The present study evaluated NKP608 in one of the most widely-used animal models of anxiety, the mouse elevated plus-maze. Two consecutive experiments were conducted i..