OBJECTIVE The present study investigates the effects of alprazolam (ALP) and nifedipine alone or in combination on behavior and on g-aminobutyric acid (GABA) levels, in discrete brain regions of albino rats. METHODS The anxiolytic effect was studied using a plus maze model and brain levels of GABA were measured using high performance liquid chromatography. Four acute treatment groups of rats ...

Cytochrome P450 (P450) is a super-family of drug metabolizing enzymes. P450 enzymes have dual function; they can metabolize drugs to pharmacologically inactive metabolites facilitating their excretion or biotransform them to pharmacologically active metabolites which may have longer half-life than the parent drug. The variable pharmacological response to psychoactive drugs typically seen in pop...

Psychological stress has been found to suppress cell-mediated immune responses that are important in limiting the proliferation of Candida albicans. Since anxiolytic drugs can restore cellular immunity in rodents exposed to stress conditions, we designed experiments conducted to evaluate the effects of alprazolam (1 mg/kg of body weight/day), a central benzodiazepine anxiolytic agonist, on the ...

Corticotropin-releasing factor(1) (CRF(1)) antagonists may be effective in the treatment of anxiety disorders with fewer side effects compared with classic benzodiazepines. The behavioral effects of DMP904 [4-(3-pentylamino)-2,7-dimethyl-8-(2-methyl-4-methoxyphenyl)-pyrazolo-[1,5-a]-pyrimidine] and its effects on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis were related to its levels in plasma...

Electroencephalographic analysis techniques have become a very useful tool to assess brain activity and interactions between cerebral regions, that is, the so-called cerebral connectivity analysis. The effects of some drugs have, so far, been studied using spectral analysis and, to a lesser extent, some linear and nonlinear connectivity techniques. New indexes have recently been designed based ...

PURPOSE Studies report 19-33% postoperative moderate-severe pain and dissatisfaction in uncomplicated total knee arthroplasty (TKA), even after 1 year. High rates of undiagnosed depression and anxiety may have a strong impact on these unfavourable outcomes. Here we aimed to investigate the efficacy of alprazolam on postoperative analgesic use and knee functions. METHODS Seventy-six patients w...