Effects of mafoprazine, a phenylpiperazine derivative, on the central dopaminergic system

The effects of mafoprazine, a new phenylpiperazine derivative, on the central dopaminergic system were studied. Mafoprazine, like chlorpromazine and haloperidol, reduced the apomorphine-induced cage-climbing behavior in mice, emesis in dogs and stereotyped behavior in monkeys; methamphetamine-induced hyperlocomotion and group toxicity in mice; and agitation in rats. Mafoprazine inhibited the unilateral circling behavior induced by methamphetamine and apomorphine in rats with 6-hydroxydopamine-induced lesions in the unilateral nigrostriatal neuronal tract. The potency of mafoprazine in these experiments was almost equal to that of chlorpromazine and about one-tenth that of haloperidol. The cataleptogenic activity of mafoprazine was lower than those of chlorpromazine and haloperidol. Mafoprazine potentiated clonidine-induced hypothermia. These results suggest that mafoprazine has a relatively selective postsynaptic dopamine D2-receptor blocking action in the nucleus accumbens compared with chlorpromazine and haloperidol and suggest that mafoprazine also has alpha 2-adrenoceptor-stimulating actions.