MK-801, a noncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonist, elicits circling behavior in the genetically inbred Balb/c mouse strain

Brain Res Bull. 2010 Nov 20;83(6):337-9. doi: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2010.08.014. Epub 2010 Sep 9.

Abstract

The Balb/c mouse is behaviorally hypersensitive to effects of MK-801 (dizocilpine), a noncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonist, and displays impaired sociability. In the current investigation, MK-801-elicited circling behavior in the genetically inbred Balb/c mouse strain that was either not or only minimally observed in similarly treated outbred Swiss-Webster mice. The ability of compounds to attenuate the intensity of MK-801-elicited circling behavior in the Balb/c mouse strain may serve as a preclinical screening paradigm for identifying effective NMDA receptor agonist interventions in the intact animal; ideally, these compounds would have therapeutic value in neuropsychiatric disorders associated with impaired sociability, such as schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Analysis of Variance
  • Animals
  • Behavior, Animal / drug effects
  • Compulsive Behavior / chemically induced*
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Dizocilpine Maleate / toxicity*
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists / toxicity*
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Species Specificity

Substances

  • Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists
  • Dizocilpine Maleate