ArticleScientific reports2021
Diazepam causes sedative rather than anxiolytic effects in C57BL/6J mice.
Article in Scientific reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 51 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effect of SSRIs on unconditioned anxiety: a systematic review and meta-analysis of animal studies.Psychopharmacology · 2024Pooled it
- Development of Novel Pegylated Imidazobenzodiazepines Targeting α5 GABAA Receptors for Anxiety: A Comparative Prodrug and Metabolite Study.ACS chemical neuroscience · 2026Article
- Triazole 187 is a biased KOR agonist that suppresses itch without sedation and induces anxiolytic-like behaviors in mice.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Diazepam selectively biases approach during threat-reward conflict while sparing reactive avoidance.Psychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Are mice a bad model for successive negative contrast?Learning & behavior · 2026Review
- Benzodiazepines for anxiety and depression: an updated overview of current use and major outcomes.Molecular biology reports · 2026Review
- Article
- Abietic Acid Enhances the Sedative Activity of Diazepam: In vivo Approach along with Receptor Binding Affinity and Molecular Interaction with the GABAergic System.ChemistryOpen · 2026Article
- Article
- Multitarget Neuropharmacological Actions of Drimycarpus racemosus Hook. f. GC-MS-Guided In Vivo and In Silico Evidence of Anxiolytic and Antidepressant Potential.TheScientificWorldJournal · 2026Article
- Carvone derived cannabidiol enantiomers as novel anticonvulsants.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025Article
- Lost in translation: toward clinically effective translational research.Translational psychiatry · 2025Review
- Synergistic Sedative Activity of Indirubin on Diazepam in Thiopental Sodium-induced Sleeping Mice: A Potential GABAergic Transmission.Molecular neurobiology · 2025Article
- Evaluation of the Sedative Activity of Naringenin: In Vivo Study with Pharmacokinetics and Molecular Docking Insights.ChemistryOpen · 2025Article
- Unveiling the anxiolytic and analgesic effects of citronellal in Swiss mice: in vivo and in silico insights into COX and GABAA receptor pathways.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2025Article
- Sedative and Anxiolytic Activities ofVeterinary medicine international · 2025Article
- Anxiety-Like Behaviors in Mice Unmasked: Revealing Sex Differences in Anxiety Using a Novel Light-Heat Conflict Test.Journal of neuroscience research · 2024Article
- Sedative Effects of Daidzin, Possibly Through the GABAJournal of molecular neuroscience : MN · 2024Article
- Clay Nanotubes Loaded with Diazepam or Xylazine Permeate the Brain through Intranasal Administration in Mice.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Raw Pinelliae Rhizoma: examination of sedative and hypnotic effects in mice and chemical analysis.Sleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Diazepam has been broadly accepted as an anxiolytic drug and is often used as a positive control in behavioral experiments with mice. However, as opposed to this general assumption, the effect of diazepam on mouse behavior can be considered rather controversial from an evidence point of view. Here we revisit this issue by studying the effect of diazepam on a benchmark task in the preclinical anxiety literature: the elevated plus maze. We evaluated the minute-by-minute time-course of the diazepam effect along the 10 min of the task at three different doses (0.5, 1 and 2 mg/kg i.p. 30 min before the task) in female and male C57BL/6J mice. Furthermore, we contrasted the effects of diazepam with those of a selective serotoninergic reuptake inhibitor (paroxetine, 10 mg/kg i.p. 1 h before the task). Diazepam had no anxiolytic effect at any of the tested doses, and, at the highest dose, it impaired locomotor activity, likely due to sedation. Noteworthy, our results held true when examining male and female mice separately, when only examining the first 5 min of the task, and when animals were subjected to one hour of restrain-induced stress prior to diazepam treatment. In contrast, paroxetine significantly reduced anxiety-like behavior without inducing sedative effects. Our results therefore suggest that preclinical studies for screening new anxiolytic drugs should be cautious with diazepam use as a potential positive control.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.