TITLE:
The FDA Mandate to Reassess Benzodiazepines: Alprazolam Induces a Positive Conditioned Place-Preference in Male Rats
AUTHORS:
Cheyenne Moffett, Katherine J. Kost, Austen Thompson, Michael H. Ossipov, Joseph V. Pergolizzi Junior, Sumiyo Umeda-Raffa, Robert B. Raffa, Tally M. Largent-Milnes, Todd Vanderah
KEYWORDS:
Benzodiazepines, Conditioned Place-Preference, Alprazolam, Reinforcement, Affective State
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Biosciences and Medicines,
Vol.9 No.3,
March
11,
2021
ABSTRACT: On September 23, 2020, in order “To address the serious risks of abuse, addiction, physical dependence, and withdrawal reactions, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is requiring the Boxed Warning be updated for all benzodiazepine medicines”. With this announcement, the FDA proclaimed that much more needs to be known about the initiation, continuation, and discontinuation of these widely-used drugs. Unfortunately, relevant information is lacking, since for many years, there has been a notable sparsity in the funding and conduct of basic and clinical research on these drugs. In order to begin to fill the void, it is valuable to (re)examine animal models. We here describe a model of conditioned place-preference (CPP) for rats and for the first time, to our knowledge, show that the representative benzodiazepine alprazolam induces positive place-preference in male rats.