The influence of diazepam on the behaviour of rabbits in spontaneous conditions

The study dealt with a popular drug diazepam also known as Relanium. Two doses of the substance were tested: 0.2 mg/kg and 1 mg/kg. The experiment was carried out on 10-rabbit groups for two hours. The animals were observed in peaceful environment of the laboratory after one hour of adaptation. There were distinguished a few phases of behaviour: active and passive observation, comfort, tension, grooming, food and water intake. Both doses eliminated completely the tension phase. Changes in other phases were similar to each other but depending on the dose there were differences in strength and duration. The smaller dose caused significant prolongation of the comfort phase at the expense of active and passive observation time decrease during the first hour of observation. The second hour trends were not changed but lost their statistical relevance. The changes caused by the bigger dose were almost identical and they were statistically significant during both hours of the experiment, but their amplitude was stronger than that caused by the lower dose. The outcome of the experiment confirms anxiolytic, sedative and miorelaxant properties of diazepam.