Aniracetam’s Anxiolytic Effects on Anxiety Mouse Models

Aniracetam is another nootropic supplement which belongs to the racetam family.

One study, interested in anxiety, compared the behavioral effects of aniracetam across three different behavioral tests which are typically used for examining anxiety levels in rodents (the social interaction test, the elevated-plus maze, and Fear Conditioning Test). Aniracetam was administered at various dosage levels 30 minutes before behavioral testing in two different strains of mice. Male ddY mice were used for the social interaction and fear conditioning test and male ICR mice were used for the elevated-plus maze test.[8]

When administering different dosages of aniracetam, in order to determine the relationship between dosage levels and behavior, the researchers found that giving aniracetam at 100 mg/kg to ddY mice specifically increased the amount of time they spent trunk sniffing another mouse introduced during the social interaction test. However, when given only 10 mg/kg of aniracetam, the ddY mice had significantly higher instances of following the other mouse. Additionally, it was established that aniracetam was able to increase overall social interaction time, as shown by the increased time and frequency measured by the total social interaction score.[8]

Next, to further assess anxiety levels, male ICR mice were systematically administered aniracetam. When subjecting these mice to an Elevated-Plus Maze test, the researchers found that aniracetam at 30 mg/kg was able to increase the time spent in the open arms of the maze as well as the percentage of entries into the open arms.

Furthermore, in the Fear Conditioning Test, only the mice that were on the 30 mg/kg dosage showed significantly different behavioral alterations from the vehicle controls. The ddY mice that received 30 mg/kg had a shorter freezing time. In the Fear Conditioning Test, increase in freezing time is generally associated with the development of generalized anxiety and panic disorder and is a test that is frequently used in order to induce such disorders for translational research. Aniracetam’s ability to reduce freezing time at a dosage level of 30 mg/kg means that this nootropic has anxiolytic properties in yet another anxiety-related domain.[8]

Oddly, in a different study, it was shown that aniracetam did not alter cognition or affective behavior.[9] This study used adult C57BL/6J mice which were divided into three groups: naive, placebo, and experimental (receiving aniracetam). In the Open Field Test, there was no significant difference between the control and the aniracetam-treated groups. The groups performed equally in the total distance traveled and in the total distance moving in the maze’s center. Also, there was no difference in the total sum of fecal boli produced during the test. However, in the Elevated-Plus Maze, the aniracetam-treated group produced significantly less fecal boli than the control. Besides that, there were no behavioral differences between the groups in the Elevated-Plus Maze and both groups spent equal time in the open and closed arms and traveled equal distance.[9]

Due to the varying and contradictory results, further investigation is required, in order to establish the exact ways and mechanisms involved in aniracetam’s effects on cognition and behavior.