Author(s)

Redouan Nakache, Brahim Lakhrissi, Fatima Zahra El Mrabet, Aboubaker Elhessni, Ali Ouichou, Bouchra Benazzouz, Abdelhalem Mesfioui

Laboratoire de Chimie d’Agroressources et Génie des Procédées, Faculté des Sciences BP 133, Kenitra, Maroc.
Laboratoire de Génétique, Neuroendocrinologie et Biotechnologie, Faculté des Sciences BP 133, Kenitra, Maroc.

Two new quinoxalinone derivatives have been synthesized adopting the HONG method, and investigated for some neuropharmacological effects (anxiety- and depressive-like responses) in rats. The present experiment sought to determine whether treatment with these compounds produces changes in affective responses. We found that the chronic injection of 6-nitro-2(1H)-quinoxalinone (NQu) showed obvious anxiolytic- and antidepressant-like effects, respectively, measured in the behavioral tests of Elevated Plus Maze (EPM) and Forced Swim Test (FST). At the dose of 30 mg/kg, NQu showed a comparative anxiolytic-like effect in rats as diazepam (Dz) (1 mg/kg), and a comparative antidepressant effect as clomipramine (Clmp) (2 mg/kg; i.p). The 2(1H)-quinoxalinone (Qu) significantly reduced depressive-like responses as evaluated in FST, whereas no anxiolytic-like effect was found as measured by open field test (OF). Additionally, the locomotor activity levels were unaffected by treatment as measured by OF and EPM.

Depression; Anxiety; Quinoxalinone Derivatives; Locomotor Activity; Wistar Rats

R. Nakache, B. Lakhrissi, F. Mrabet, A. Elhessni, A. Ouichou, B. Benazzouz and A. Mesfioui, "Synthesis and Influence of Two Quinoxalinone Derivatives on Anxiety- and Depressive-Like Responses in Wistar Rat," Neuroscience and Medicine, Vol. 3 No. 4, 2012, pp. 330-336. doi: 10.4236/nm.2012.34039.