[Role of benzodiazepine receptors in regulating aggressive behavior].

In experiments of male Wistar rats, it was established that a long-term apomorphine treatment caused changes in density of benzodiazepine receptors in forebrain structures opposite to those elicited by acute administration. The changes in benzodiazepine binding correlated with decrease of antiaggressive effect of diazepam and Ro 15-1788 after long-term apomorphine administration. The action of apomorphine on the benzodiazepine receptors was not direct, as apomorphine did not change the benzodiazepine agonist-antagonist interaction, and naloxone, opiate blocator, was a more powerful antagonist of antiaggressive action of diazepam than Ro 15-1788. The involvement of the two types of benzodiazepine receptors in the regulation of aggressive behavior is suggested, the first being apparently linked with GABA and opiate receptors and the other one--with the serotoninergic system. Ro 15-1788 was able to antagonize the effects of diazepam on the first but not on the second type of benzodiazepine receptors.