Effect of drugs influencing central serotonergic mechanisms on haloperidol-induced catalepsy

Pretreatment with quipazine, a serotonin agonist, and clomipramine, a selective serotonin neuronal uptake blocker, was found to potentiate the cataleptic effect of haloperidol in a dose-dependent manner in rats. Pretreatment with methysergide, a serotonin antagonist, reduced the cataleptic effect of haloperidol. The results indicate that the cataleptic effect of neuroleptics depends on the balance between the dopaminergic and serotonergic systems, and that the serotonergic system exerts an inhibitory influence on the dopaminergic system.