Abstract
Intravenous administration of β-CCM (methyl-β-carboline-3-carboxylate) at doses ranging from 0.3 to 10 mg/kg dose-dependently inhibited muricide in olfactory bulbectomized rats. β-CCM elicited a decrease of locomotor activity at doses ranging from 0.3 to 3 mg/kg, and it impaired rotarod performance at doses of 1 and 3 mg/kg. The inhibition of muricide induced by β-CCM was antagonized by intraperitoneal administration of Rol 5-1788 at 10 mg/kg or diazepam at 3 mg/kg. However, the hypolocomotor activity and impairment of rotarod performance induced by β-CCM were not antagonized by diazepam at 3 mg/kg. These results indicated that β-CCM exerts an inhibitory effect on muricide through benzodiazepine receptors and this inhibitory effect was not solely caused by its sedative or motor incordinating activity at the dose ranges used in this study.
