The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is increasingly utilized as a powerful model organism in anxiety research and anxiolytic drug screening. Researchers discuss the effects of several putative unconventional anxiotropic drugs (aspirin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), nicotine, naloxone and naltrexone) and their potential mechanisms of action in zebrafish.
The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is increasingly utilized as a powerful model organism in anxiety research and anxiolytic drug screening. Researchers discuss the effects of several putative unconventional anxiotropic drugs (aspirin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), nicotine, naloxone and naltrexone) and their potential mechanisms of action in zebrafish. There is high similarity between human, rodent and zebrafish molecular targets which implies shared signaling pathways involved in anxiety pathogenesis. Although, evidence shows that zebrafish behavior can be modulated by drugs beyond conventional anxiolytics or anxiogenics.
This unconventional anxiety pharmacology may provide important, evolutionarily relevant insights into complex regulation of anxiety in biological systems. This knowledge may foster the development of novel CNS drugs, eventually facilitating innovative treatment of patients based on novel ‘unconventional’ targets identified in fish models.
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de Abreu, M. S., Giacomini, A. C. V. V., Demin, K. A., Galstyan, D. S., Zabegalov, K. N., Kolesnikova, T. O., Amstislavskaya, T. G., Strekalova, T., Petersen, E. V., & Kalueff, A. V. (2021). Unconventional anxiety pharmacology in zebrafish: Drugs beyond traditional anxiogenic and anxiolytic spectra. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior, 207.
https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/10.1016/j.pbb.2021.173205
