The effect of Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) microinjected uni- and bilaterally into the rat's CA1 hippocampal area on anxiety was studied. The elevated plus-maze experiments showed that VIP (10, 50 and 100 ng) infused into the CA1 area decreased significantly the number of entries into the open arms of the maze and the time spent there, the open/total ratio, the total number of entries and increased the time spent in the close arms in comparison to the respective controls. These findings suggest anxiogenic effect of the maze of VIP microinjected into the CA1 hippocampal area.
Key words: VIP, hippocampus, anxiety, elevated plus-maze, Wistar rat
Topic: MEDICINE