Tolerance to or facilitation of pharmacological effects induced by chronic treatment with the beta-adrenergic stimulant clenbuterol

Abstract
The effect in mice of chronic administration of the beta-adrenergic agonist clenbuterol was studied using four pharmacological tests, two of which are predictive of antidepressant activity in man. The suppressive effect of acute administration of the beta-adrenergic agonist in two tests unrelated to antidepressant activity, locomotor activity and investigation of food, was attenuated after chronic treatment. However, in the two tests which are predictive of antidepressant activity, antagonism of reserpine induced hypothermia and potentiation of yohimbine toxicity, the effect of clenbuterol was greater following chronic treatment.