The stimulus effects of 8-OH-DPAT: evidence for a 5-HT2A receptor-mediated component.

A previous investigation in our laboratory found that the stimulus effects of the 5-HT2A agonist, LSD, are potentiated by 5-HT1A receptor agonists including the prototypic agonist, 8-OH-DPAT. Also suggestive of behaviorally relevant interactions between 5-HT1A and 5-HT2A receptors are behavioral analyses of locomotor activity, head-twitch response, forepaw treading and production of the serotonin syndrome; in some instances effects are augmented, in other, diminished. These observations led us in the present investigation to test the hypothesis that stimulus control by 8-OH-DPAT [0.2 mg/kg; 15 min pretreatment time] is modulated by 5-HT2A ligands. Stimulus control was established with 8-OH-DPAT in a group of 10 rats. A two-lever, fixed ratio 10, positively reinforced task with saline controls was employed. As shown previously, stimulus control by 8-OH-DPAT and the generalization of 8-OH-DPAT to the 5-HT1A partial agonist, buspirone, was completely blocked by the selective 5-HT1A antagonist, WAY-100635. In contrast, antagonism by the selective 5-HT2A antagonist, M100907 [0.1 mg/kg; 30 min pretreatment time], of 8-OH-DPAT and of the generalization of 8-OH-DPAT to buspirone was statistically significant but less than complete. In light of our previous conclusions regarding the interactions of 5-HT1A agonists with LSD-induced stimulus control, the present data suggest that the interaction between 5-HT1A and 5-HT2A receptors is bidirectional in drug discrimination studies.

The stimulus properties of LSD in C57BL/6 mice.

RATIONALE: Drug-induced stimulus control has proven to be a powerful tool for the assessment of a wide range of psychoactive drugs. Although a variety of species has been employed, the majority of studies have been in the rat. However, with the development of techniques which permit the genetic modification of mice, the latter species has taken on new importance. Lysergic acid diethylamide [LSD], the prototypic indoleamine hallucinogen, has not previously been trained as a discriminative stimulus in mice. OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the feasibility of LSD-induced stimulus control in the mouse and to provide a preliminary characterization of the stimulus properties of LSD in that species. METHODS: Male C57BL/6 mice were trained using a left or right nose-poke operant on a fixed ratio 10, water reinforced task following the injection of lysergic acid diethylamide [LSD, 0.17 or 0.30 mg/kg, s.c.; 15 min pretreatment] or vehicle. RESULTS: Stimulus control was established in 6 of 16 mice at a dose of LSD of 0.17 mg/kg after 39 sessions. An increase in dose to 0.30 mg/kg for the remaining mice resulted in stimulus control in an additional 5 subjects. In the low dose group, subsequent experiments demonstrated an orderly dose-effect relationship for LSD and a rapid offset of drug action with an absence of LSD effects 60 min after injection. When LSD [0.17 mg/kg] was administered in combination with the selective 5-HT2A antagonist, M100907, LSD-appropriate responding was significantly but incompletely reduced to approximately 50%; concurrently, response rates declined significantly. In mice trained with a dose of LSD of 0.30 mg/kg, full generalization to the phenethylamine hallucinogen, [-]-2,5-dimethoxy-4-methylamphetamine [DOM] was observed. CONCLUSIONS: The present data demonstrate the feasibility of LSD-induced stimulus control in the mouse. The general features of stimulus control by LSD in the mouse closely resemble those observed in the rat but the present data suggest that there may be significant differences as well.

The 5-HT1A receptor and the stimulus effects of LSD in the rat.

RATIONALE: It has been suggested that the 5-HT1A receptor plays a significant modulatory role in the stimulus effects of the indoleamine hallucinogen lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). OBJECTIVE: The present study sought to characterize the effects of several compounds with known affinity for the 5-HT1A receptor on the discriminative stimulus effects of LSD. METHODS: Twelve male Fischer 344 rats were trained in a two-lever, fixed-ratio (FR) 10, and food-reinforced task with LSD (0.1 mg/kg, i.p.; 15-min pretreatment) as a discriminative stimulus. Combination and substitution tests with the 5-HT(1A) agonists, 8-OH-DPAT, buspirone, gepirone, and ipsapirone, with LSD-induced stimulus control were then performed. The effects of these 5-HT1A ligands were also tested in the presence of the selective 5-HT1A receptor antagonist, WAY-100,635 (0.3 mg/kg, s.c.; 30-min pretreatment). RESULTS: In combination tests, stimulus control by LSD was increased by all 5-HT1A receptor ligands with agonist properties. Similarly, in tests of antagonism, the increase in drug-appropriate responding caused by stimulation of the 5-HT1A receptor was abolished by administration of WAY-100,635. CONCLUSION: These data, obtained using a drug discrimination model of the hallucinogenic effects of LSD, provide support for the hypothesis that the 5-HT1A receptor has a significant modulatory role in the stimulus effects of LSD.

A 5-HT(2C) receptor-mediated interaction between 2,5-dimethoxy-4-methylamphetamine and citalopram in the rat.

Previous studies conducted in our laboratory have shown that acute administration of the selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor (SSRI), citalopram, potentiates the stimulus effects of the phenethylamine hallucinogen [-]-2,5-dimethoxy-4-methylamphetamine (DOM) in the rat while neither substituting for the DOM stimulus when administered alone nor altering brain levels of DOM. The present investigation was designed to determine the mechanism by which citalopram acts on DOM-induced stimulus control. To that end, we tested the following hypotheses: (a) citalopram blocks the transport of DOM by the serotonin transporter, (b) citalopram acts via the 5-HT(1A) receptor, and (c) citalopram acts via the 5-HT(2C) receptor. Hypothesis (a) was rejected on the basis of equilibrium saturation studies of [3H]citalopram binding, which revealed no significant affinity of DOM for the 5-HT transporter of rat brain membranes. Hypotheses (b) and (c) were tested in a group of 20 rats in which stimulus control was established with DOM (0.6 mg/kg; 75 min pretreatment time). A two-lever, fixed ratio 10 (FR10), positively reinforced task with saline controls was employed. Hypothesis (b), a role for the 5-HT(1A) receptor, was rejected on the basis of an absence of antagonism of the effects of citalopram on DOM by the selective 5-HT(1A) receptor antagonist, WAY-100635. In contrast, Hypothesis (c), a role for the 5-HT(2C) receptor, gained support from the observation of significant antagonism of the effects of citalopram on DOM by the selective 5-HT(2C) receptor antagonist, SB-242084.