Acute phencyclidine induces aversion, but repeated phencyclidine induces preference in the place conditioning test in rats

Pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, and behavioural studies of deschloroketamine in Wistar rats

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Deschloroketamine (DCK), a structural analogue of ketamine, has recently emerged on the illicit drug market as a recreational drug with a modestly long duration of action. Despite it being widely used by recreational users, no systematic research on its effects has been performed to date.

EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH

Pharmacokinetics, acute effects, and addictive potential in a series of behavioural tests in Wistar rats were performed following subcutaneous (s.c.) administration of DCK (5, 10, and 30 mg·kg^-1 ) and its enantiomers S-DCK (10 mg·kg^-1 ) and R-DCK (10 mg·kg^-1 ). Additionally, activity at human N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors was also evaluated.

KEY RESULTS

DCK rapidly crossed the blood brain barrier, with maximum brain levels achieved at 30 min and remaining high at 2 h after administration. Its antagonist activity at NMDA receptors is comparable to that of ketamine with S-DCK being more potent. DCK had stimulatory effects on locomotion, induced place preference, and robustly disrupted PPI. Locomotor stimulant effects tended to disappear more quickly than disruptive effects on PPI. S-DCK had more pronounced stimulatory properties than its R-enantiomer. However, the potency in disrupting PPI was comparable in both enantiomers.

CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS

DCK showed similar behavioural and addictive profiles and pharmacodynamics to ketamine, with S-DCK being in general more active. It has a slightly slower pharmacokinetic profile than ketamine, which is consistent with its reported longer duration of action. These findings have implications and significance for understanding the risks associated with illicit use of DCK.

Use and abuse of dissociative and psychedelic drugs in adolescence

Adolescence is a period of profound developmental changes, which run the gamut from behavioral and neural to physiological and hormonal. It is also a time at which there is an increased propensity to engage in risk-taking and impulsive behaviors like drug use. This review examines the human and preclinical literature on adolescent drug use and its consequences, with a focus on dissociatives (PCP, ketamine, DXM), classic psychedelics (LSD, psilocybin), and MDMA. It is the case for all the substances reviewed here that very little is known about their effects in adolescent populations. An emerging aspect of the literature is that dissociatives and MDMA produce mixed reinforcing and aversive effects and that the balance between reinforcement and aversion may differ between adolescents and adults, with consequences for drug use and addiction. However, many studies have failed to directly compare adults and adolescents, which precludes definitive conclusions about these consequences. Other important areas that are largely unexplored are sex differences during adolescence and the long-term consequences of adolescent use of these substances. We provide suggestions for future work to address the gaps we identified in the literature. Given the widespread use of these drugs among adolescent users, and the potential for therapeutic use, this work will be crucial to understanding abuse potential and consequences of use in this developmental stage.

Flood-conditioned place aversion as a novel non-pharmacological aversive learning procedure in mice

The place conditioning paradigm is an efficient, widely-used method to study mechanisms that underlie appetitive or aversive learning and memory processes. However, pharmacological agents used to induce conditioned place preference (CPP) or aversion (CPA) can per se interfere with learning and memory processing, hence confounding the results. Therefore, non-pharmacological place conditioning procedures are of high importance. Here, we introduce a novel procedure for induction of CPA in mice, by water flooding. We found that pairing a context with immersion in moderately cold shallow water resulted in aversion and avoidance of that context during a place preference test. Importantly, place aversion emerged only when mice experienced the onset of flood during conditioning training, but not when mice were placed in a compartment pre-filled with water. We also found that warm water was not sufficiently aversive to induce CPA. Moreover, CPA was observed after two or three context-flood pairings but not after one or four pairings, suggesting that moderate conditioning intensity produces optimal CPA expression. Thus, flood-induced CPA is a simple, cheap, and efficient procedure to form and measure place aversion memories in mice, using an ethologically-relevant threat.

Formation of aversive memories associated with conditioned drug withdrawal requires BDNF expression in the amygdala in acute morphine-dependent rats

AIM

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays an important role in learning and memory in multiple brain areas. In the present study, we investigated the roles of BDNF in aversive memories associated with conditioned drug withdrawal in acute morphine-dependent rats.

METHODS

Conditioned place aversion (CPA) was induced in male SD rats exposed to a single dose of morphine (10 mg/kg, sc) followed by naloxone (0.3 mg/kg, sc). In some rats, BDNF receptor antagonist K252a (8.5 ng per side) or BDNF scavenger TrkB-FC (0.65 μg per side) was bilaterally microinjected into amygdala before naloxone injection. BDNF mRNA and protein expression levels in amygdala were detected after the behavior testing.

RESULTS

CPA behavior was induced in rats by the naloxone-precipitated morphine withdrawal, which was accompanied by significantly increased levels of BDNF mRNA and protein in the amygdala. Bilateral microinjection of TrkB-FC or K252a into the amygdala completely blocked CPA behavior in the rats.

CONCLUSION

Formation of aversive memories associated with conditioned drug withdrawal in acute morphine-dependent rats requires BDNF expression in the amygdala.

Evaluation of the abuse potential of AM281, a new synthetic cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonist

AM281 (1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-5-(4-iodophenyl)-4-methyl-N-4-morpholinyl-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxamide) is a new synthetic cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonist. Similar to other cannabinoid antagonists, AM281 has been suggested to have therapeutic indications. However, recent reports have suggested that cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonists may share similar behavioral effects with other drugs of abuse such as cocaine and amphetamine. These reports cast doubts on the safety profile of AM281. Thus, in the present study we evaluated the abuse potential (rewarding and reinforcing effects) of AM281 through two of the most widely used animal models for assessing the abuse potential of drugs: the conditioned place preference (CPP) and self-administration (SA) tests. Experiments were performed in Sprague-Dawley rats in various dosages [CPP (0.1, 0.5 or 2.5mg/kg), SA (0.005, 0.025 or 0.1mg/kg/infusion)]. We also delved into the consequences of repeated drug exposure on the subsequent response to the drug. Thus, parallel experiments were carried out in rats pretreated with AM281 for 7 or 14 days. Our findings indicated that AM281, at any dose, did not induce CPP and SA in drug-naïve rats. Interestingly, significant CPP (0.5mg/kg of AM281), but not SA, was observed in 14 days pretreated rats. These observations suggest that AM281 per se has no or minimal rewarding and reinforcing properties, but alterations in neuronal functions and behavior due to repeated AM281 exposure may contribute in part to the abuse potential of this drug. In view of this finding, we advocate the careful use, monitoring, and dispensation of AM281.

Behavioral effects of phencyclidine on nicotine self-administration and reinstatement in the presence or absence of a visual stimulus in rats

RATIONALE

Tobacco use is a serious health problem in the USA, and this problem is potentiated in patients with schizophrenia. The reward system is implicated in schizophrenia and may contribute to the high comorbidity between nicotine use and schizophrenia, but very little research has been done on the topic. The reward-enhancement effect of nicotine has been shown to be important in nicotine use, but there have been no studies on this effect in animal models of schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVES

This study was designed to determine the effects of phencyclidine, used to model negative symptoms of schizophrenia, on self-administration of nicotine with or without a co-occurring sensory reinforcer [i.e., visual stimulus (VS)] in rats.

METHODS

Phencyclidine (2.0 mg/kg) was administered before each of seven nicotine self-administration sessions (0.01 mg/kg/inf) after which rats (n = 8-9 per group) were given 7 days of extinction without phencyclidine pretreatment. Reinstatement using phencyclidine (2.0 mg/kg), nicotine (0.2 mg/kg), and yohimbine (1.25 mg/kg, a pharmacological stressor) was tested after extinction to determine if previous exposure to phencyclidine would alter reinstatement of active lever pressing.

RESULTS

Phencyclidine initially decreased nicotine self-administration but only in the groups with a concurrent VS. This decrease in self-administration dissipated after 5 days. During reinstatement, rats that had previously received phencyclidine during self-administration with a VS were more sensitive to stress-induced reinstatement than any other group.

CONCLUSIONS

These results show a transitory effect of phencyclidine on nicotine self-administration. Phencyclidine may induce a potential sensitivity to pharmacological stressors contributing to reinstatement of nicotine.

Examining the reinforcement-enhancement effects of phencyclidine and its interactions with nicotine on lever-pressing for a visual stimulus

Nicotine is a widely-abused drug, yet its primary reinforcing effect does not seem potent as other stimulants such as cocaine. Recent research on the contributing factors toward chronic use of nicotine-containing products has implicated the role of reinforcement-enhancing effects of nicotine. The present study investigates whether phencyclidine (PCP) may also possess a reinforcement-enhancement effect and how this may interact with the reinforcement-enhancement effect of nicotine. PCP was tested for two reasons: (1) it produces discrepant results on overall reward, similar to that seen with nicotine and (2) it may elucidate how other compounds may interact with the reinforcement-enhancement of nicotine. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were trained to lever press for brief visual stimulus presentations under fixed-ratio (FR) schedules of reinforcement and then were tested with nicotine (0.2 or 0.4 mg/kg) and/or PCP (2.0mg/kg) over six increasing FR values. A selective increase in active lever-pressing for the visual stimulus with drug treatment was considered evidence of a reinforcement-enhancement effect. PCP and nicotine separately increased active lever pressing for a visual stimulus in a dose-dependent manner and across the different FR schedules. The addition of PCP to nicotine did not increase lever-pressing for the visual stimulus, possibly due to a ceiling effect. The effect of PCP may be driven largely by its locomotor stimulant effects, whereas the effect of nicotine was independent of locomotor stimulation. This dissociation emphasizes that distinct pharmacological properties contribute to the reinforcement-enhancement effects of substances.

Clozapine attenuates disruptions in response inhibition and task efficiency induced by repeated phencyclidine administration in the intracranial self-stimulation procedure

Currently available antipsychotic medications lack satisfactory effectiveness against several symptom clusters of schizophrenia, including affective symptoms (e.g., anhedonia) and cognitive deficits (e.g., impulsivity). Translational animal models analogous to these symptoms are necessary to provide insights into the neurobiological events underlying these impairments and allow the development of improved schizophrenia treatments. We investigated the effects of repeated administration of the psychotomimetic phencyclidine (PCP), a noncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist, on performance in the intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) procedure, a test of reward function. We also explored how chronic treatment with clozapine, an atypical antipsychotic with limited effectiveness on affective and cognitive schizophrenia symptoms, would affect PCP-induced disruptions of ICSS performance. A single injection of 2 mg/kg PCP elevated ICSS thresholds, suggesting a reward deficit. Repeated PCP administration (2 mg/kg once daily for 2 consecutive days followed by a 10-day drug free period, and then 5 consecutive days of 2 mg/kg PCP daily, s.c., 30 min pretreatment) resulted in a small, but significant, lowering of ICSS reward thresholds, indicating increased reward function. Chronic clozapine did not alter the effects of repeated PCP on ICSS thresholds. Repeated PCP also increased the number of extra and timeout responses performed during the ICSS procedure, reflecting disinhibition of inappropriate responding and decreased task efficiency. Chronic clozapine attenuated the increase in extra responses induced by repeated PCP and tended to reduce the PCP-induced increase in timeout responses. These results suggest that repeated PCP administration does not produce an anhedonia-like state resembling that seen in schizophrenia. However, the increased impulsivity and reduced task efficiency seen with repeated PCP administration, and the sensitivity of these effects to attenuation with an atypical antipsychotic, suggest that repeated PCP administration may be a useful inducing condition for eliciting cognitive deficits with relevance to schizophrenia.

Effect of glutamate receptor antagonists on place aversion induced by naloxone in single-dose morphine-treated rats

The neurobiological mechanism underlying the negative motivational component of withdrawal from acute opiate dependence is far from understood. Our objectives were to determine whether the glutamatergic system is involved in the motivational component of morphine withdrawal in acutely dependent rats and such an involvement is associated with dopaminergic neurotransmission. We examined the effects of various kinds of glutamate receptor antagonists on conditioned place aversion (CPA) induced by naloxone-precipitated withdrawal from a single morphine exposure 24 h before. Furthermore, the influence of pretreatment with the dopamine receptor antagonist haloperidol on those effects of glutamate receptor antagonists was also investigated. CPA was attenuated in a dose-dependent manner by all glutamate receptor antagonists examined including the NMDA receptor antagonists (+)-5-methyl-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenzo[a,d]cyclo-hepten-5,10-imine maleate (MK-801) and phencyclidine hydrochloride (PCP), AMPA receptor antagonist 1-(4-aminophenyl)4-methyl-7,8-methylenedioxy-5H-2,3-benzodiazepine hydrochloride (GYKI 52466), and metabotropic receptor antagonists (+/-)-2-amino-3-phosphonopropionic acid (AP-3) and (+/-)-alpha-methyl-4-carboxyphenylglycine (MCPG). The effects of MK-801, GYKI 52466 and MCPG were blocked by haloperidol. These results suggest that the glutamatergic system involving multiple classes of receptors plays a role in the motivational component of withdrawal from acute morphine dependence, and the function of the glutamatergic system would be closely associated with dopaminergic neurotransmission.

Involvement of Signal Transduction Cascade via Dopamine-D1Receptors in Phencyclidine Dependence

We investigated the molecular mechanisms of development to phencyclidine (PCP)-induced rewarding effect by using tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) heterozygous (TH(+/-)) mice. PCP (8 mg/kg) induced the place preference in wild-type mice pretreated with PCP (10 mg/kg/day for 28 days). The place preference induced by PCP is attenuated by 6-hydroxydopamine, a dopaminergic neurotoxin, and (+) SCH-23390, a dopamine-D1 receptor antagonist, but not by DSP-4, a noradrenergic neurotoxin, and (-) sulpiride, a dopamine-D2 receptor antagonist. In TH(+/-) mice pretreated with PCP (10 mg/kg/day for 28 days), no PCP (8 mg/kg)-induced place preference was observed. In wild-type mice pretreated with PCP, the levels of cAMP, cAMP response element binding protein (CREB), and c-fos mRNA in the nucleus accumbens were increased. The levels of cAMP, CREB, and c-fos mRNA in the nucleus accumbens were not increased by the same treatment schedule of PCP in TH(+/-) mice. These findings suggest that changes in dopaminergic and/or cAMP signal cascades induced by repeated PCP treatment play an important role in the development of PCP-induced rewarding effect.

Behavioural adaptations to addictive drugs in mice lacking the NMDA receptor epsilon1 subunit

N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, a subtype of glutamate receptors (GluRs) formed by assembly of the GluRzeta subunit (called NR1 in rats) with any one of four GluRepsilon subunits (GluRepsilon1-4; NR2A-D), play an important role in excitatory neurotransmission, synaptic plasticity and brain development. Recent pharmacological studies have also indicated a role for NMDA receptors in drug addiction. In the present study, we investigated the behavioural adaptations to addictive drugs such as phencyclidine (PCP), methamphetamine (MAP) and morphine (MOR) in mice lacking the GluRepsilon1 subunit of the NMDA receptor. GluRepsilon1 mutant mice exhibited a malfunction of NMDA receptors, as evidenced by the reduction of [3H]MK-801 binding in an autoradiographic receptor binding assay. GluRepsilon1 mutant mice showed an attenuation of acute PCP- and MAP-induced hyperlocomotion. The development of sensitization by repeated treatment with PCP and MAP at a low, but not high, dose was also suppressed. The development of MOR-induced analgesic tolerance and naloxone-precipitated MOR withdrawal symptoms were attenuated in GluRepsilon1 mutant mice. In the place conditioning test, PCP-induced place aversion in naive mice and place preference in PCP-pretreated mice, as well as MOR-induced place preference, were diminished whereas MAP-induced place preference was not affected in GluRepsilon1 mutant mice. These findings provide genetic evidence that GluRepsilon1 subunit-containing NMDA receptors are involved in certain aspects of drug addiction.

Regulations of methamphetamine reward by extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2/ets-like gene-1 signaling pathway via the activation of dopamine receptors

Little is known about molecular mechanisms for long-lasting neuroadaptation related to the rewarding effects of methamphetamine (MAP). In the present study, we examined the intracellular signaling that is associated with the expression of conditioned place preference (CPP) induced by MAP in rats. Rats were given MAP or saline (control group) for conditioning to the CPP test. MAP-treated and control animals were killed immediately after the CPP test [CPP(+)]. Some of the MAP-treated rats were killed without the CPP test [CPP(-)]. Hyperphosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) ERK1/2, but not p38 and c-Jun N-terminal kinase/stress-activated protein kinase, was found in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and striatum but not in other brain areas of MAP-treated CPP(+) animals. No such phosphorylation was seen in control and MAP-treated CPP(-) animals. Moreover, the transcription factor ets-like gene-1 (Elk-1), but not cAMP response element-binding protein, also showed a similar hyperphosphorylation in the same regions of MAP-treated CPP(+). Tyrosine kinase receptors, including tyrosine kinase B, were not activated in any brain regions examined in all groups. Both the dopamine D1 receptor antagonist R-(+)-7-chloro-8-hydroxy-3-methyl-1-phenyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-3-benzazepine (SCH23390) and the D2 receptor antagonist raclopride inhibited the expression of CPP as well as the activation of ERK1/2 in MAP-treated CPP(+) animals, when they were injected before the CPP test. The microinjection of 2'-amino-3'-methoxyflavone (PD98059), a selective MAPK kinase inhibitor, into the NAc before the test, abolished the MAP-induced ERK1/2 activation and decreased the expression of MAP-induced CPP. These results suggest the importance of the ERK1/2 signaling pathway through activation of dopamine D1 and D2 receptors in the expression of CPP induced by MAP.

Withdrawal from chronic phencyclidine treatment induces long-lasting depression in brain reward function

Phencyclidine (PCP) is a drug of abuse that has rewarding and dysphoric effects in humans. The complex actions of PCP, and PCP withdrawal in particular, on brain reward function remain unclear. The purpose of the present study was to characterize the effects of withdrawal from acute and chronic PCP treatment on brain reward function in rats. A brain stimulation reward procedure was used to evaluate the effects of acute PCP injection (0, 5, or 10 mg/kg) or chronic PCP treatment (0, 10, 15, or 20 mg/kg/day for 14 days delivered via subcutaneous osmotic minipumps) on brain reward function. Withdrawal from acute administration of 5 and 10 mg/kg PCP produced a decrease in brain reward function as indicated by a sustained elevation in brain reward thresholds. When administered chronically, 10, 15, or 20 mg/kg/day PCP induced a progressive dose-dependent potentiation of brain stimulation reward, while cessation of the treatment resulted in significant elevations in reward thresholds reflecting diminished reward. Specifically, withdrawal from 15 or 20 mg/kg/day PCP induced a depression in brain reward function that lasted for the entire month of observation. These results indicate that prolonged continuous administration of high PCP doses facilitates brain stimulation reward, while withdrawal from acute high PCP doses or chronic PCP treatment results in a protracted depression of brain reward function that may be analogous to the dysphoric and anhedonic symptoms observed in PCP dependence, depression, and schizophrenia.

Involvement of dopaminergic system in the nucleus accumbens in the discriminative stimulus effects of phencyclidine

The effects of microinjection of phencyclidine (PCP) and dizocilpine, non-competitive NMDA receptor antagonists, and dopamine into the nucleus accumbens were examined in rats trained to discriminate PCP (1.5 mg/kg i.p.) from saline under a two-lever fixed ratio 20 schedule of food reinforcement. Microinjection of PCP (2-40 microg) and dizocilpine (2-12 microg) into the bilateral nucleus accumbens produced a dose-dependent increase in PCP-appropriate responding and fully substituted for systemically administered PCP, whereas microinjection of dopamine (1-4 microg) did not produce PCP-like discriminative stimulus effects. The performance of PCP discrimination was assessed after bilateral destruction of the dopaminergic nerve neurons in the nucleus accumbens with dopaminergic neurotoxin, 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA, 4 microg/1 microl/side). The destruction of dopaminergic nerve neurons in the nucleus accumbens failed to prevent the performance of PCP discrimination. There was no difference in the average percentages of PCP-appropriate responding between vehicle and 6-OHDA-treated rats in the dose-response tests. These results suggest that the dopaminergic system in the nucleus accumbens does not play a critical role in the discriminative stimulus effects of PCP.

Involvement of nitric oxide in phencyclidine-induced place aversion and preference in mice

The present study investigated the involvement of nitric oxide (NO) in phencyclidine (PCP)-induced place aversion and preference in the place conditioning paradigm. PCP-induced place aversion in naive mice was dose-dependently attenuated by administration of N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), a NO synthase (NOS) inhibitor, during the conditioning. The NOS activity and dopamine (DA) turnover in the hippocampus in mice showing PCP-induced place aversion were decreased, such changes being restored by administration of L-NAME during the conditioning. On the other hand, PCP-induced place preference in mice pretreated with PCP for 28 days was not attenuated by administration of L-NAME during the conditioning. Although NOS activity was not changed, the DA turnover in the cerebral cortex was increased in mice showing PCP-induced place preference. In mice pretreated with L-NAME and PCP for 28 days before the place conditioning paradigm, PCP neither induced place preference, nor changed the NOS activity or DA turnover. These results suggest that NO is involved in the acquisition of PCP-induced aversive effects, and in the development of PCP-induced preferred effects. Further, the functional change of the DAergic neuronal system mediated by NO in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex may be necessary for the expression of aversive effects and development of preferred effects, respectively, induced by PCP.

Ethanol-induced conditioned place aversion in mice

Previous studies have shown that ethanol produces conditioned place preference (CPP) in mice when injections are given immediately before exposure to the conditioned stimulus (CS). Paradoxically, however, injection of ethanol immediately after the CS produces conditioned place aversion (CPA). Four experiments were conducted to characterize the parametric boundaries of CPA produced by post-CS ethanol exposure. Experiment 1 showed that CPA is positively related to ethanol dose, with significant CPA at 2 and 4 g / kg, but not at 1 g / kg. Experiment 2 revealed an inverse relationship between CPA and trial duration, i.e. significant CPA occurred when the trial duration was 5, 15 or 30 min, but not when it was 60 or 90 min. Experiment 3 indicated that ethanol pre-exposure (eight daily injections) significantly reduced subsequent development of CPA. Finally, experiment 4 showed that repeated exposure to the CS alone (six 30 min exposures to each CS) after CS-ethanol pairings produced complete extinction of CPA. The same extinction procedure also completely eliminated CPP induced by pre-CS injections of ethanol. Overall, these studies demonstrate that CPA induced by post-CS ethanol injection is influenced by many of the same variables that affect CPP produced by pre-CS ethanol injection in mice. However, these findings do not resolve the issue of whether the 'before-versus-after' effect in ethanol place conditioning is better explained by assuming ethanol produces only rewarding effects or by assuming that ethanol produces both rewarding and aversive effects.

Effects of abused drugs on thresholds and breaking points of intracranial self-stimulation in rats

The present study aimed to compare the effects of various abused drugs on threshold current intensities and the breaking points of intracranial self-stimulation. Effects of morphine (1-10 mg/kg, s.c.), d-amphetamine (0.3-3.2 mg/kg, i.p.), nicotine (0.1-3.2 mg/kg, s.c.), ethanol (0.6-2.4 g/kg, p.o.), caffeine (1-20 mg/kg, i.p.) and phencyclidine (0.3-5.6 mg/kg, i.p.) were studied in male Wistar rats trained to lever-press for electrical stimulation of ventral tegmental area. Morphine and d-amphetamine were the only two drugs that both decreased threshold currents and increased the maximal ratio of reinforced and non-reinforced responses. Nicotine (1 mg/kg) and ethanol (1.2 g/kg) lowered threshold currents while both decreases and increases in threshold current were seen after administration of low (5 mg/kg) and high (20 mg/kg) doses of caffeine, respectively. Nicotine, ethanol and caffeine had no effects in the progressive ratio procedure. Effects of phencyclidine did not reach levels of statistical significance in either procedure although high doses of phencyclidine disrupted performance in the progressive ratio procedure.

Involvement of the serotonergic neuronal system in phencyclidine-induced place aversion in rats

The possible involvement of the serotonergic neuronal system in aversive motivation produced by phencyclidine [1-(1-phenylcyclohexyl)piperidine; PCP] was investigated using a place-conditioning paradigm in rats. PCP (4 mg/kg, i.p.) produced place aversion in this task as reported previously (Kitaichi K, Noda Y, Hasegawa T, Furukawa H, Nabeshima T. Acute phencyclidine induces aversion, but repeated phencyclidine induces preference in the place conditioning test in rats. Eur J Pharmacol 1996;318:7-9). The blockade of serotonin2A (5-HT2A) receptors using the antagonist ritanserin (3 and 10 mg/kg, p.o.) significantly attenuated this aversive property of PCP whereas lesions of serotonergic neurons using 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (5,7-DHT, 100 microg/animal, i.c.v.) failed to affect it. Repeated PCP treatment (10 mg/kg, i.p. for 14 days), which is enough to diminish the stereotyped 5-HT2A receptor-mediated head-twitch behavior, also decreased the place aversion. These results suggest that the serotonergic neuronal system, specifically the 5-HT2A receptor, may play a critical role in producing PCP-induced place aversion.

Effects of the non-competitive NMDA receptor antagonist ifenprodil on the morphine-induced place preference in mice

The effects of ifenprodil, a non-competitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, on the morphine-induced place preference were examined in mice. Morphine (1-5 mg/kg, s.c.) produced a dose-related place preference in mice. In contrast, ifenprodil alone (5-20 mg/kg, i.p.) did not produce either preference or aversion for the drug-associated place. Pretreatment with ifenprodil (5-20 mg/kg, i.p.) suppressed the place preference produced by morphine in a dose-dependent manner. These results indicate that ifenprodil suppresses the rewarding effect produced by morphine.

Place conditioning of mice with the NMDA receptor antagonists, eliprodil and dizocilpine

Effects of noncompetitive and competitive NMDA receptor antagonists have been repeatedly characterized using place conditioning models. The present study aimed to characterize the effects in mice of another NMDA receptor antagonist acting at polyamine binding site, eliprodil. Five-day conditioning with eliprodil (1-30 mg/kg, i.p.) resulted in a dose-dependent avoidance of an eliprodil-paired compartment during post-conditioning tests. These effects were: (i) observed both with eliprodil and without drug, and (ii) less pronounced in individually housed mice subjected to repeated social defeats and mild footshocks prior to and during the conditioning period (compared to group-housed and individually housed nonstressed mice). In a parallel set of experiments, the effects of dizocilpine (MK-801; 0.03-0.3 mg/kg, i.p.) were evaluated using the same study design as for eliprodil. Conditioned place preference was established with the dizocilpine dose of 0.3 mg/kg and this effect was not affected by housing/stressing or drug exposures during the test.

Measuring reward with the conditioned place preference paradigm: a comprehensive review of drug effects, recent progress and new issues

This review gives an overview of recent findings and developments in research on brain mechanisms of reward and reinforcement from studies using the place preference conditioning paradigm, with emphasis on those studies that have been published within the last decade. Methodological issues of the paradigm (such as design of the conditioning apparatus, biased vs unbiased conditioning, state dependency effects) are discussed. Results from studies using systemic and local (intracranial) drug administration, natural reinforcers, and non-drug treatments and from studies examining the effects of lesions are presented. Papers reporting on conditioned place aversion (CPA) experiments are also included. A special emphasis is put on the issue of tolerance and sensitization to the rewarding properties of drugs. Transmitter systems that have been investigated with respect to their involvement in brain reward mechanisms include dopamine, opioids, acetylcholine, GABA, serotonin, glutamate, substance P, and cholecystokinin, the motivational significance of which has been examined either directly, by using respective agonist or antagonist drugs, or indirectly, by studying the effects of these drugs on the reward induced by other drugs. For a number of these transmitters, detailed studies have been conducted to delineate the receptor subtype(s) responsible for the mediation of the observed drug effects, particularly in the case of dopamine, the opioids, serotonin and glutamate. Brain sites that have been implicated in the mediation of drug-induced place conditioning include the 'traditional' brain reward sites, ventral tegmental area and nucleus accumbens, but the medial prefrontal cortex, ventral pallidum, amygdala and the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus have also been shown to play important roles in the mediation of place conditioning induced by drugs or natural reinforcers. Thus, although the paradigm has also been criticized because of some inherent methodological problems, it is clear that during the past decade place preference conditioning has become a valuable and firmly established and very widely used tool in behavioural pharmacology and addiction research.