Increases in plasma corticosterone and stretched-attend postures in rats naive and previously exposed to the elevated plus-maze are sensitive to the anxiolytic-like effects of midazolam

A single exposure to the elevated plus-maze test (EPM) reduces or abolishes the anxiolytic efficacy of benzodiazepines on a second trial. This phenomenon known as one-trial tolerance (OTT) is considered to be due to a shift in the emotional state of the animals across the test/retest sessions. Activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis has been considered to be an adaptive response to stressful or challenging situations such as height and openness of the EPM. This work looks at the phenomenon of OTT to the benzodiazepine compound midazolam through the conjoint examination of the novel ethological measures of the EPM and adrenocortical response of rats exposed to single and repeated sessions of the EPM. The results obtained confirmed that the approach/avoidance conflict on the first trial of the EPM is very sensitive to the anxiolytic effects of benzodiazepines. Moreover, stressful stimuli present upon initial exposure to the EPM render the standard measures of the EPM resistant to the anxiolytic effects of benzodiazepines on retest. However, the increases in plasma corticosterone and in risk assessment behavior observed in rats submitted to single or repeated sessions in the EPM were reversed by pretreatment with midazolam. The administration of metyrapone, a glucocorticoid synthesis blocker, decreased risk assessment but did not affect locomotion and anxiety-like behaviors. It is suggested that the detection of the dangerous environment through the stretched-attend postures in the second trial leads to the known low level of exploration and the consequent OTT upon retest. Moreover, in view of the similarity between the risk assessment and plasma corticosterone patterns in both naive and experienced rats, this hormone-behavior profile may be crucial for the expression of OTT to benzodiazepines in rodents exposed to the EPM.