Mescaline‐induced head‐twitches in the rat: An in vivo method to evaluate serotonin S2 antagonists
Drug Development Research January 1, 1983 C. J. E. Niemegeers, Françis C. Colpaert, J.e. Leysen et al. 58 citations
An intravenous dose of 20.0 mg/kg of mescaline reliably caused head-twitching in rats. Many drugs with different pharmacological actions were tested for their ability to block this response, including numerous serotonin antagonists and two selective S2 antagonists: ketanserin and pirenperone. The same compounds were also examined in six in vivo tests measuring antagonism at serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, histamine, or acetylcholine sites. Inhibition of mescaline-induced head-twitches did not correlate with blocking dopamine, norepinephrine, histamine, or acetylcholine receptors, but did correlate with in vivo antagonism of tryptamine and 5-hydroxytryptophan, and with inhibition of 3H-spiperone binding to rat prefrontal cortex in...