Involvement of Neurosteroids in the Anxiolytic-Like Effects of AC-5216 in Mice
January 2008
in “
Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior
”
TLDR AC-5216 reduces anxiety in mice through neurosteroids affecting GABAA receptors.
The study investigated the role of neurosteroids in the anxiolytic-like effects of AC-5216, a novel TSPO ligand, using 960 male ddY mice. The research demonstrated that AC-5216's anxiolytic effects were mediated by neurosteroids that enhance GABAA receptor function. This was evidenced by the fact that the anxiolytic effects of AC-5216 were inhibited by trilostane and finasteride, which are inhibitors of key steroidogenic enzymes, but not by picrotoxin, a GABAA receptor-gated Cl− channel blocker. In contrast, the anxiolytic effects of diazepam, which acts via the central benzodiazepine receptor, were not affected by these inhibitors, highlighting the distinct mechanism of AC-5216 involving neurosteroids.
