Prophylactic effect of serotonin uptake inhibitors against motion sickness in Suncus murinus.

The prophylactic effect of serotonin uptake inhibitors, imipramine and fluoxetine, against motion sickness was investigated in Suncus murinus. Imipramine (s.c.) and fluoxetine (i.p.) inhibited motion-induced emesis dose dependently with ID50 values of 1.7 and 26 mg/kg, respectively. The results suggest that increasing the concentration of serotonin in the synaptic cleft can prevent motion-induced emesis and that serotonin uptake inhibitors are effective as anti-motion sickness drugs.