Acute behavioral effects of deliriant hallucinogens atropine and scopolamine in adult zebrafish.
Andrey D. Volgin, Oleg A. Yakovlev, Konstantin A. Demin, Polina A. Alekseeva, Allan V. Kalueff
Behavioural Brain Research February 1, 2019 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2018.10.033 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational animal study (acute dose-response behavioral experiment) Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) |
| Interventions | Atropine Scopolamine |
| Dose | Atropine 60, 90 and 120 mg/L; scopolamine 60, 120, 180 and 240 mg/L |
| Measures | Novel tank test (NTT), light-dark test (LDT), shoaling test |
| Topics | Anxiety |
| Keywords | Atropine Deliriant hallucinogens Locomotion Scopolamine Zebrafish |
| Key findings | Atropine at 90 mg/L mildly increased novel tank locomotor activity, scopolamine at 120 mg/L produced anxiety-like novel tank effects without affecting other behaviors, and both drugs disrupted shoaling behavior. The authors argue these results indicate complex, partially overlapping deliriant-like effects and support zebrafish as a potential screening model for cholinergic deliriants. |
Abstract
Atropine and scopolamine are classical muscarinic cholinergic antagonists that exert multiple CNS effects. Belonging to a group of deliriant hallucinogens, these drugs induce delirium-like hallucinations, hyperactivity, altered affective states and amnesia. However, as deliriants remain the least studied group of hallucinogens, their complex and poorly understood profiles necessitate further clinical and preclinical studies. The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is rapidly emerging as a powerful model organism for translational neuropsychopharmacology research. Here, we characterize acute behavioral effects of atropine (60, 90 and 120 mg/L) and scopolamine (60, 120, 180 and 240 mg/L) in adult zebrafish subjected to the novel tank (NTT), light-dark (LDT) and shoaling tests. Overall, atropine at 90 mg/L only mildly increased the NTT locomotor activity, scopolamine at 120 mg/L produced anxiogenic-like NTT effects without affecting other behaviors, and both drugs similarly disrupted zebrafish group behavior in the shoaling test. Collectively, this supports complex and partially overlapping deliriant-like effects of acute atropine and scopolamine in zebrafish. The behavioral sensitivity to these drugs suggests zebrafish as potential screens for cholinergic deliriant psychotropic agents, also necessitating further cross-species in-vivo experimental studies.
Comparable studies
Other preclinical and animal studies on anxiety, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychedelics, but Not Ketamine, Produce Persistent Antidepressant-like Effects in a Rodent Experimental System for the Study of Depression Rats | 2020 | Preclinical study | |
| Effects of N,N-Dimethyltryptamine on Rat Behaviors Relevant to Anxiety and Depression Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats | 2018 | Experimental study | |
| Chronic, Intermittent Microdoses of the Psychedelic N , N -Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) Produce Positive Effects on Mood and Anxiety in Rodents Male rats | 2019 | Animal study | |
| 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine facilitates fear extinction learning Mice | 2015 | Preclinical experimental study | |
| Repeated lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) reverses stress-induced anxiety-like behavior, cortical synaptogenesis deficits and serotonergic neurotransmission decline Male mice exposed to chronic restraint stress | 2022 | Preclinical experimental study |
Citations in the library
Cited by 4
- Amanita muscaria: Ecology, Chemistry, Myths Encyclopedia September 2, 2021
- Acute behavioral and Neurochemical Effects of Novel N -Benzyl-2-Phenylethylamine Derivatives in Adult Zebrafish ACS Chemical Neuroscience June 7, 2022
- Behavioral and neurochemical effects of novel N-Benzyl-2-phenylethylamine derivatives in adult zebrafish bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) January 21, 2022
- Chronic Behavioral and Neurochemical Effects of Four Novel N-Benzyl-2-phenylethylamine Derivatives Recently Identified as "Psychoactive" in Adult Zebrafish Screens. ACS Chemical Neuroscience April 29, 2024