Animals received the drug treatment through intraperitoneal route. Aripiprazole was received as a gift sample from Watson Pharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd., Ambernath (District Thane). Hydroxyzine dihydrochloride was procured from Sigma Aldrich, Mumbai, India. Aripiprazole was suspended in Tween 80 (5%) in 0.9% saline.[12 (link)] Hydroxyzine dihydrochloride was completely soluble in water.
Experimental protocols were executed between 11.00 and 16.00 h. Each animal model had a separate set of animals. In each set, animals were randomly assigned to four groups (n = 6 animals/group). They were kept undisturbed for at least 1 h before executing experimental protocol. The arena of elevated plus maze (EPM), light and dark transition test, and open field test were wiped with 70% ethyl alcohol solution before placing each animal. Group I, II, III, and IV received treatment of 5% of Tween 80 in 0.9% saline (10 ml/kg; control group), aripiprazole (1 mg/kg), hydroxyzine (3 mg/kg), and aripiprazole (0.5 mg/kg) + hydroxyzine (1.5 mg/kg), respectively.[12 (link)15 (link)17 (link)]