Separate mechanisms for development and performance of compulsive checking in the quinpirole sensitization rat model of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Rationale: Acute administration of serotonergic agonist, meta-chlorophenylpiperazine (mCPP), attenuates performance of compulsive checking in an animal model of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). It is not known whether mCPP has a similar effect on development of compulsive checking.

Objectives: The objective of the study was to examine whether similar mechanisms mediate the development versus the performance of compulsive checking in the rat model.

Effects of the serotonergic agonist mCPP on male rats in the quinpirole sensitization model of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Rationale: The serotonergic agonist, meta-chlorophenylpiperazine (mCPP), produces inconsistent effects on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms, perhaps because clinical studies have not utilized a homogenous OCD subgroup of patients.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate mCPP effects on functional components of compulsive checking, using the quinpirole sensitization rat model of OCD.

Methods: In study 1, the effects of mCPP were evaluated in quinpirole rats with compulsive checking.