Adinazolam both prevents and reverses the long-term reduction of daily activity produced by inescapable shock

The behavioral consequences of exposure to stressors such as inescapable shock are usually quite transitory if testing is conducted in an environment different from that in which the stressor was administered. Daily running activity is an exception in that it remains depressed for several weeks following experience with inescapable shock. In the present experiments we found the administration of the triazolbenzodiazepine adinazolam able to both reduce this long-term activity reduction produced by inescapable shock when acutely administered before the inescapable shock, and to reverse the effect when chronically administered after the inescapable shock. Classic 1,4-benzodiazepines such as diazepam have been able to prevent such effects when acutely administered before inescapable shock, but cannot reverse these effects when provided after the inescapable shock. Conversely, classic antidepressants such as desipramine have been unable to prevent these behavioral effects when given before inescapable shock in acute form, but can reverse the effects with chronic administration following the inescapable shock. Our observations that adinazolam can both prevent and reverse the effects of inescapable shock are consistent with reports that this agent has both anxiolytic and antidepressant effects in clinical use.