Effects of fenfluramine, m-CPP and triazolam on repeated-acquisition in squirrel monkeys before and after neurotoxic MDMA administration.
Psychopharmacology (Berl)
; 159(4): 388-96, 2002 Feb.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-11823891
ABSTRACT
RATIONALE Establishing functional deficits as a result of neurotoxic dosing regimens of MDMA has been difficult. However, moderate success has been achieved when sensitive animal models and drug challenge have been used together. OBJECTIVE:
The present study used a repeated-acquisition technique and dose-effect determinations before, during and after neurotoxic MDMA exposure to characterize the effects of serotonergic drugs on learning, and to determine if MDMA-induced serotonin (5-HT) neurotoxicity is associated with learning deficits as measured by changes in response rate or the percentage of errors.METHOD:
The effects of various serotonergic drugs were characterized in six squirrel monkeys responding under a repeated-acquisition procedure before and after neurotoxic dose regimens of MDMA. Specifically, cumulative dose-effect curves for m-CPP (0.032-1 mg/kg), fenfluramine (0.1-3.2 mg/kg) and triazolam (0.0032-0.1 mg/kg) were obtained prior to MDMA administration, with the latter drug serving as a non-5-HT control.RESULTS:
In general, all of the drugs tested decreased overall response rate as the cumulative dose increased, whereas only triazolam markedly increased the percentage of errors. MDMA treatment produced significant (80-99%) decreases in brain 5-HT and 5-HIAA axonal markers, but did not lead to changes in either dependent measure of responding or shifts in the dose-effect curves obtained during pharmacological challenges with m-CPP, fenfluramine or triazolam.CONCLUSIONS:
Taken together, these results demonstrate that serotonergic drugs can disrupt learning in monkeys, but indicate that MDMA-induced 5-HT neurotoxicity does not lead to disruptions in this particular type of serial learning task.
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Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Piperazines
/
Reaction Time
/
Triazolam
/
Behavior, Animal
/
Serotonin Agents
/
N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine
/
Fenfluramine
Limits:
Animals
Language:
En
Journal:
Psychopharmacology (Berl)
Year:
2002
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Estados Unidos