The effects of phencyclidine on fighting in differentially housed mice

Reduced isolation-induced aggressiveness in mice following NAALADase inhibition

“…tailrattling) without affecting non-social or social behaviors; a lower dose increased offensive behaviors but still reduced ambivalent distance in mice (tail-rattling;McAllister 1990). The NMDA antagonist PCP administered to individually housed mice increased aggressive behavior, but also reduced the number of mice that initiated attack (Wilmot et al 1987). The latter finding is similar to our finding that GPI-5232 reduced the number of mice that initiated aggressive behaviors, while all mice that received vehicle were aggressive.…”

Effects of NMDA receptor channel blockade on aggression in isolated male mice

“…For instance, dizocilpine was reported to increase aggressiveness in male mice [McAllister, 1990]. PCP (1.25 and 2.5 mg/kg) increased total fighting time and decreased latency to the first fight in mice housed individually for 32 to 35 days [Wilmot et al, 1987]. However, this effect was observed in mice that fought while PCP was found to dose-dependently reduce the number of animals fighting.…”

“…The existing literature is equivocal and the reported results do not indicate clearly whether effects of NMDA receptor antagonists on aggressive behavior depend on either the antagonist used for the study or the species of animals that served as experimental subjects. For instance, phencyclidine (PCP) was found both to facilitate fighting [individually housed mice: Wilmot et al, 1987;sleep-deprived rats: Musty and Consroe, 1982] and to decrease the number of attacks by resident mice toward intruders [Miczek and Haney, 1994;Tyler and Miczek, 1982]. Similarly, the PCP-like NMDA receptor antagonist dizocilpine increased aggressiveness in a study by McAllister [1990] while blocked aggression induced by a challenge dose of apomorphine [Lang et al, 1995].…”

Neurogenetics of Aggressive Behavior: Studies in Rodents

“…However, the nature and the extent of the response are affected by the individual’s basal level of aggression and/or housing conditions. Systemic administration of prototypic antagonists of NMDA receptors such as phencyclidine (PCP) or dizocilpine (MK-801) can increase aggressive behavior in the mouse and rat, depending on the individual’s age and specific history such as how long the individual has been housed in isolation, the extent of sleep deprivation, or the presence or absence of previous aggressive encounters (Russell et al, 1984; Wilmot et al, 1987; McAllister, 1990; Lang et al, 1995; Audet et al, 2009). In contrast, high doses of PCP and dizocilpine reduce aggressive behavior and cause abnormal locomotor activation or ataxia (Tyler and Miczek, 1982; Miczek and Haney, 1994; Lang et al, 1995; Belozertseva and Bespalov, 1999).…”