Cooper, S. J., and A. Desa: Pyrazoloquinolines and zolpidem: Effects on hypertonic saline consumption in rehydrating rats. Drug Dev. Res. 14:161-168, 1988.Male rats were adapted to a 22-hr-daily water-deprivation schedule and to consuming an aversive 2.7% NaCl solution in a 30-min period. Previous reports had shown that benzodiazepines and other anxiolytics stimulate ingestion of hypertonic saline under these conditions; however, two pyrazoloquinolines, CGS 9895 and CGS 9896, failed to do so [Cooper, 19871. The present experiments were designed to investigate possible antagonist properties of CGS 9895 and CGS 9896 in this model and also to characterize the effects of a newly described pyrazoloquinoline, CGS 17867A, on saline drinking. In addition, a novel sedative-hypnotic, zolpidem, and a benzodiazepine peripheral-type receptor compound, Ro5-4864, were treated. The results indicate that CGS 9895 and CGS 9896 exhibited antagonistic activity in this model, that CGS 17867A increased salt drinking without displaying antagonist activity, and that neither zolpidem nor Ro5-4864 affected drinking responses.