Nobuyuki Nishida

Effects of acute and repeated exposures to Aroclor 1254 in adult rats : Motor activity and flavor aversion conditioning

While considerable research has focused on the neurotoxicity of developmental exposures to polychlorinated biphenyls, including Aroclor 1254, relatively little is known about exposures in adult animals. This study investigated the behavioral effects of acute and repeated Aroclor 1254 exposures to adult rats on motor activity and flavor aversion conditioning. Male Long-Evans rats (60 days old) were tested for motor activity in a photocell device after acute (0, 100, 300, or 1000 mg/kg, p.o.) or repeated (0, 1, 3, 10, 30 or 100 mg/kg/day, po, 5 days/week for 4 to 6 weeks exposure to Aroclor 1254. Motor activity was decreased dose-dependently at doses of 300 mg/kg or more after acute exposure. Severe body weight loss and deaths occurred at 1000 mg/kg. Recovery of activity occurred over 9 weeks but was incomplete. After repeated exposure, motor activity was decreased dose-dependently at doses of 30 mg/kg or more, and severe weight loss and deaths occurred at 100 mg/kg. In contrast to acute exposure, complete recovery of activity occurred 3 weeks after exposure. Additional rats were water deprived (30 min/day) and received acute po administration of Aroclor 1254 (0, 10, 15, 25, 30, 100, or 300 mg/kg) shortly after consuming a saccharin solution. Three days later they were given the choice between consuming saccharin or water, and saccharin preferences were recorded. Saccharin preference was decreased at doses of 25 mg/kg or more. Additional experiments determined the effect of repeated saccharin-Aroclor 1254 pairings (0, 3.75, 7.5, or 15 mg/kg/day, 14 days) followed by a choice test 1 day after the last dose. Repeated exposure to 15 mg/kg produced robust flavor aversion conditioning. Repeated exposure to 7.5 mg/kg produced flavor aversion conditioning in four of 12 rats. These results demonstrate that Aroclor 1254 causes hypoactivity and flavor aversions in adult rats; the no observable effect level (NOEL) for motor activity was 100 mg/kg for acute exposure and 10 mg/kg for repeated exposure for a period of up to 6 weeks. The acute NOEL for flavor aversion conditioning was 15 mg/kg while the repeated NOEL was 7.5 mg/kg.

Reinforcing effects of the enkephalin analogs, EK-209 and EK-399, in rats

The reinforcing effects of two enkephalin analogs, Tyr-D-Ala-Gly-MePhe-NHNHCOCH2CH3.AcOH (EK-209) and Tyr-D-Met(O)-Gly-EtPhe-NHNHCOCH3.AcOH (EK-399), were assessed by means of a self-administration technique with rats. The animals were trained to self-administer an intravenous dose of morphine by a lever-press response. A test drug was substituted for morphine after the rats had initiated and maintained its self-administration. When codeine, fentanyl, pentazocine or EK-209 was available, most of the rats increased the number of self-administrations as the unit dose of these drugs was decreased. When levallorphan or EK-399 was available, most of the rats did not increase responding; only one of 4 rats slightly increased the number of self-administrations as the unit dose of EK-399 was decreased. These results indicate that EK-209, like codeine, fentanyl, and pentazocine, possesses a reinforcing effect, whereas EK-399, like levallorphan, has a very weak effect, suggesting that the latter compound possesses low abuse liability.

Application of the conditioned taste aversion paradigm to assess discriminative stimulus properties of psychostimulants in rats

BACKGROUND The conditioned taste aversion (CTA) paradigm is one of the reliable methods to evaluate the discriminative stimulus properties of drugs and is characterized by a short conditioning period and no need for special equipment. This method, however, has not yet been fully investigated for psychostimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine. METHODS In the present study, rats were trained to discriminate between cocaine and a vehicle using CTA and substitution tests with various psychostimulants were conducted to evaluate the usefulness of the method for assessing the discriminative stimulus properties of this pharmacological class. Male rats received an intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of cocaine (10mg/kg) 10 min prior to access saccharin for 20-min, and immediately after the saccharin access they received an i.p. dose of LiCl (1.8 mEq; n=8, Group CL) or the vehicle (n=8, Group CW) on the day of conditioning; on the other days (2 or 3 days between the cocaine conditioning days), they were injected with saline prior to access to saccharin without the LiCl or vehicle injection after the access. RESULTS By the fifteenth cocaine conditioning trial, all animals acquired discrimination. In the substitution test, cocaine dose dependently decreased saccharin consumption. The psychostimulants, methamphetamine, methylphenidate, bupropion and sibutramine, substituted for cocaine, whereas the opioid μ agonist morphine and the cannabinoid agonist, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, did not substitute for cocaine. Mazindol did not substitute for cocaine although it has CNS stimulant activities. CONCLUSION These results suggest that discriminative stimulus properties of psychostimulants can be evaluated using the CTA paradigm.

Dopamine D1 antagonist SCH23390 attenuates self-administration of both cocaine and fentanyl in rats

To investigate the role of dopamine D(1) receptors in the reinforcing effects of cocaine and fentanyl, the effect of the D(1) antagonist SCH23390 on intravenous self-administration of these drugs was investigated in rats using a progressive ratio (PR) reinforcement schedule, during which the rats received the first three injections under an FR1 schedule. Then the number of lever presses required to deliver an injection (lever press ratio) increased by three after every three further injections. The last lever press ratio completed by each rat during each 6 h session was designated the breaking point. Breaking point values increased dose-dependently during both cocaine (0.125-1.00 mg/kg per injection) and fentanyl (0.25-2.00 μg/kg per injection) self-administration. Pretreatment with SCH23390 (0.01 mg/kg, s.c.) decreased breaking point values for both cocaine and fentanyl, reflecting a decrease in the reinforcing efficacy of the drugs. To determine whether the effect of SCH23390 was due to general suppression of the lever pressing response, the effect of SCH23390 (0.01 mg/kg, s.c.) on the performance of rats maintained by water-reinforcement was examined. SCH23390 suppressed performance only transiently, therefore general suppression appears to have little or no effect on the breaking point. These results suggest that dopamine D(1) receptors are involved in mediating the reinforcing effects of both the psychostimulant cocaine and the opiate fentanyl.

Discriminative stimulus effects of enkephalin analogs, EK-209 and EK-399, in rats

The discriminative stimulus effects of two enkephalin analogs, Tyr-D-Ala-Gly-MePhe-NHNHCOCH2CH3.AcOH (EK-209) and Tyr-D-Met(O)-Gly-EtPhe-NHNHCOCH3.AcOH (EK-399), were assessed in a drug discrimination experiment with rats. The animals were trained to discriminate between the effect of morphine (3 mg/kg s.c.) and saline in a two-lever choice, water reinforced procedure. After the discrimination training had been completed, the animals were used in stimulus generalization tests. A test drug was administered subcutaneously before the test session, and the animals were allowed to select the morphine or saline lever. The animals completely generalized to the effects of codeine, fentanyl and EK-209, but did not generalize completely to the effect of ethylketocyclazocine. After receiving an injection of pentazocine, levallorphan, N-allynormetazocine, or EK-399, the animals pressed the morphine lever, but did not generalize completely to the effects of these drugs. These results suggest that the discriminative stimulus effect of EK-209 is similar to that of morphine, whereas the effect of EK-399 may be different from that of morphine.

A nonbenzodiazepine partial agonist, S-(+)-DN-2327, has minimal physical dependence-producing liability, but shows cross-dependence on barbital in rats.

1. Physical dependence and cross-physical dependence on barbital of the benzodiazepine receptor partial agonist S-(+)-DN-2327 and the benzodiazepine receptor full agonist diazepam were compared in male Fischer 344 rats. 2. In the physical dependence study, rats were treated with S-(+)-DN-2327 (30, 100, 300 and 1000 mg/kg/day) or diazepam (30, 100 and 300 mg/kg/day) for 4 weeks by the drug admixed with food method. After stopping the treatment, the body weight and food consumption in the diazepam 100 and 300 mg/kg groups tended to decrease or decreased to values lower than those in the control group, whereas these parameters in the S-(+)-DN-2327 30, 100 and 300 mg/kg groups were comparable to the control group values. 3. In the cross-dependence study, rats were treated with increasing doses of barbital by admixing the drug with food for 4 weeks, after which the diet admixed with barbital was replaced by basal diet alone or admixed with S-(+)-DN-2327 or diazepam (target doses: 100 and 300 mg/kg/day for each compound). During the substitution period, the decreases in body weight and food consumption in both S-(+)-DN-2327 and both diazepam groups were suppressed compared with those in the basal diet group. 4. These results suggest that S-(+)-DN-2327 possesses minimal physical dependence-producing liability, but shows cross-dependence on barbital, as do benzodiazepine receptor full agonists.