The acute effects of amphetamine derivatives on extracellular serotonin and dopamine levels in rat nucleus accumbens (original) (raw)
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Brain Research, 2005
It is known that most of drugs abused by humans preferentially stimulate dopamine transmission in the shell subdivision of the nucleus accumbens as compared to the core. The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether this applies also to intravenous 3,4methylendioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ''ecstasy'') administered at doses that sustain self-administration behavior in rats. The effect of 0.32, 0.64, 1.0, 2.0 and 3.2 mg/kg i.v. of MDMA on dopamine transmission in the nucleus accumbens shell and core was studied in freely moving rats by means of dual probe microdialysis. MDMA dose-dependently stimulated dopamine transmission both in the shell and in the core but the increase in the shell was more pronounced compared to the core at doses of 0.64, 1.0 and 2.0 mg/kg. The increase of dialysate dopamine obtained after 0.32 mg/kg and after 3.2 mg/kg was not significantly different in the shell compared to the core of nucleus accumbens. This study extends to MDMA the property of other drugs of abuse to increase preferentially nucleus accumbens shell dopamine. D
Brain Research Bulletin, 1987
~rt/rn,7c,r,rr.s tr7ic,rcrclicr/~sis and crmphctcminr, injbsion in the nw/~~~s crc~c~rcmhor.s and striatrrm c!ffrz~!\: mo~+ng rats: Inc~rcwsc~ i/l r.utrrrc~c~//rt/nr doprrrxitle rrnd serofotzin. BRAIN RES BULL 19(6f 623-628, 1987.-To test the effects of systemic and local amphetamine on dopamine and serotonin release in freely moving rats, guide cannulas were implanted in the nucleus accumbens and ventral striatum for removable 200 i* microdialysis probes. Comparing 4.5 min samples before and after IP amphetamine (2 mgikg), dopamine (DA) in dialysate from the accumbens increased from a baseline of 3 pg/20 ~1 to I I pg/20 yl; whereas dopamine metabolites. DOPAC and HVA decreased. This was probably due to block of DA reuptake and inhibition of monoamine oxidase, MAO. Accumbens serotonin increased from a baseline of 8 to 11 pg/ZO ~1. Changes in the ventral striatum were similar. In the second experiment, microdialysis was performed before and after local injection of amphetamine (4 pg) to reveal effects of
Effects of cathinone and amphetamine on the neurochemistry of dopamine in vivo
Neuropharmacology, 1990
The effects of (-)cathinone, the primary psychoactive alkaloid of the Khat plant, were compared to those of (+)amphetamine in the anterior caudate-putamen and the nucleus accumbens. In vivo microdialysis was used to measure extracellular levels of dopamine and metabolites in both regions of the brain simultaneously, after intraperitoneal administration of 0.8, 1.6 or 3.2 mg/kg of either drug (doses expressed as the salts). Both drugs increased levels of dopamine but decreased levels of metabolites in a dose-dependent manner. However, the relative magnitude of these effects depended upon the specific drug, the dose and area of the brain examined. At the largest dose used, amphetamine had a relatively greater effect than cathinone on dopamine in both caudate and accumbens. However, among smaller doses, this difference was only observed in the nucleus accumbens after administration of 1.6 mg/kg. The results also demonstrated a differential regional effect of both drugs at 3.2 mg/kg, in that both had a greater effect on dopamine in the caudate, as opposed to the accumbens. These findings demonstrate a functional heterogeneity of the striatum of the rat, that may be relevant to the understanding of both normal brain function and the neural responses to psychoactive drugs.
British Journal of Pharmacology, 2011
Mephedrone, compared to MDMA (ecstasy) and amphetamine, rapidly increases both dopamine and serotonin levels in nucleus accumbens of awake rats * Abstract Background and purpose: The designer drug 1-(4-methylphenyl)-2-methylaminopropan-1one (4-methylmethcathinone, mephedrone) is reported to possess psychostimulant, entactogenic and hallucinogenic effects. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of acute administration of mephedrone on extracellular levels of dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) in the nucleus accumbens of awake rats and compare these effects to those induced by 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy) and amphetamine.