Abstract
Effects of high doses of sulpiride on agonistic behavior in male mice. The effects of a single injection of high doses of sulpiride (100, 150, or 200 mg/kg, ip) or physiological saline (0.9% NaCl) on the agonistic behaviour elicited by isolation in male mice were examined. Half of the animals were housed and employed as experimental or control animals; the remainder were used as 'standard opponents" and were temporally rendered anosmic by zinc sulphate. Individually housed mice were exposed to anosmic "standard opponents" in a neutral area 30 minutes after the drug administration. These encounters were videotaped and evaluated using an ethologically based analysis. Sulpiride significantly decreased the time spent in offensive behaviours (threat and attack). However, only the lowest dose produced a specific antiaggressive profile characterized by suppression of aggressive behaviour without a significant increase of immobility behaviours. These results suggest that the possible antiaggressive specificity of atypical neuroleptics could be closely related to the dose used.
