Item Details

title

An Analysis of the Pharmacological Variables that Determine the Reinforcing Efficacy of Drugs Acting at Central Monoamine Systems

author

Lile, Joshua Anthony

abstract

The study of drugs as reinforcing stimuli has demonstrated that the variables that determine drug-taking behavior are similar between animals and humans. While it is understood that drug self-administration is controlled by numerous factors, there are pharmacological attributes of a drug that determine its ability to function as a reinforcer. In Chapter 1, data from animal models that evaluated the reinforcing and rewarding effects of monoamine agonist drugs tested as candidate treatments for cocaine addiction were compared to their abuse liability in humans and to their efficacy as therapeutics for cocaine addiction. Results from preclinical studies were highly predictive of abuse liability in humans, but not of their potential as medications. In particular, the results from self-administration studies emphasized the abuse potential of drugs acting at the dopamine (DA) system. Because of the involvement of DA in the behavioral effects of cocaine, it has been proposed that high-affinity DA transporter (DAT) inhibitors with a slow-onset and long duration of action may have potential as pharmacotherapies for cocaine addiction. These drugs can decrease cocaine self-administration, but may also have significant reinforcing effects of their own. In Chapter 2, the reinforcing strength of PTT, a drug with these pharmacological properties, was compared to cocaine using a choice procedure and a progressive-ratio (PR) schedule in rhesus monkeys. PTT was a less efficacious reinforcer than cocaine under both conditions. However, the underlying pharmacological properties that resulted in differences in the reinforcing efficacy of drugs were not evident. In Chapter 3, the pharmacological determinants of the reinforcing efficacy of several cocaine and methylphenidate analogs that differed in their pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profiles were investigated using a PR schedule in rhesus monkeys. Under the conditions of this experiment, it appeared that pharmacokinetic variables were less important than the relative blockade of DAT and serotonin transporters (5-HTT) in the strength of these drugs to maintain responding. Overall, these results indicate that monoamine reuptake inhibitors with a range of pharmacological properties can exhibit reinforcing effects, and, as it pertains to DAT and 5-HTT inhibition, there is an orderly interaction between these systems that impacts drug reinforcement.

subject

behavioral pharmacology

drug abuse

operant responding

contributor

Joseph R. Tobin (committee chair)

Kathleen A. Grant (committee member)

David C. S. Roberts (committee member)

Anthony Liguori (committee member)

Michael A. Nader (committee member)

creator

Lile, Joshua Anthony

date

2008-09-28T10:55:24Z (accessioned)

2010-06-18T19:00:06Z (accessioned)

2004-01-15 (available)

2008-09-28T10:55:24Z (available)

2010-06-18T19:00:06Z (available)

2002-08-08 (issued)

degree

null (defenseDate)

Pharmacology (discipline)

Wake Forest University (grantor)

PHD (level)

identifier

LileDis02.pdf

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/14922 (uri)

migration

etd-12172002-140037 (oldETDId)

rights

Release the entire work for access only to the Wake Forest University system for one year from the date of approval. After one year, release the entire work for access worldwide, unless I send notification to delay release. (accessRights)

I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Wake Forest University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. (license)