Effect of phenazepam on ethanol intake in rats

The new Soviet transquilizer phenazepam, if given by daily intraperitoneal injection to rats in a dose of 1 mg/kg for 3 weeks, can depress the craving for ethanol developed beforehand by administration of a 5% solution of alcohol for 2 months as the only source of fluid. The mechanism of this effect is probably connected with changes in the activity of the hypothalamic neurosecretory centers observed under these conditions. The property thus revealed evidently also explains the efficacy of phenazepam in the treatment of patients with chronic alcoholism.