Effects of benzoctamine and chlordiazepoxide on turnover and uptake of 5-hydroxytryptamine in the brain

1 Benzoctamine, a new psychoactive drug, known to exert in man an anti-anxiety effect resembling that of chlordiazepoxide, decreased the disappearance of intraventricularly-injected [(14)C]-5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) from rat brain, as did chlordiazepoxide.2 Both drugs partially inhibited the alpha-ethyl-3-hydroxy-4-methylphenylethylamine-induced depletion of rat brain 5-HT.3 It is concluded that benzoctamine, like chlordiazepoxide, decreases 5-HT turnover in the brain and that this action may play a role in the anti-anxiety effect of these drugs observed in man.