Introduction:
Afabazol (CM-346) is a new antioxidant belonging to the 2 -mercaptobenzimidazole group.
Material and methods: The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of afabazol treatment on behavior of rats of high emotional reactivity. The multiparameter method for complex evaluation of the anxiety-phobic states in rats according to Rodina’s method was used. This method characterizes the species-specific responses of an animal to the series
of etiologically adequate tests. Experiments were conducted on Wistar male rats three times as follows: 24 hours before drug administration, 15 minutes after drug administration, and 24 hours after its intraperitoneal administration. Afabazol was given at the dose of 1 mg/kg diluted in 0.3 ml of distilled water. Active control group received the same volume of distilled water whilst passive control consisted of intact animals. The numbers of scores received for each group of animals on the second and third day of the experiment were compared with the issue value accepted as 100% for the first day.

Results:
Afabazol (1 mg/kg) decreased a fear level about 33 % on the day of application (p<0.05) and about 20% (no statistical significance) 24 hours after its application. There were no significant changes in both active and passive control groups.

Conclusions:
The effect of afabazol on behavior of rats of high emotional reactivity confirms its central anxiolytic influence. Our results are similar to other authors’ findings where the level of fear is differentially modified by the different doses of examined substances.