Behavioral pharmacology of two novel substituted quinoxalinedione glutamate antagonists

Two novel quinoxalinedione glutamatergic antagonists, with in vitro selectivity for the glycine modulatory site on the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, were evaluated in a number of behavioral tests primarily designed to compare their effects to those of the noncompetitive NMDA antagonist phencyclidine (PCP). The compounds evaluated were 5-chloro-7-trifluoromethyl-1,4-dihydro-2,3-quinoxalinedione (ACEA-1011) and 5-nitro-6,7-dichloro-1,4-dihydro-2,3-quinoxalinedione (ACEA-1021). In rats, both ACEA-1011 and ACEA-1021 were completely devoid of PCP-like discriminative stimulus effects, although behavioral activity, in the form of response rate suppression, was seen at the higher doses tested (6-25mg/kg, i.p.). ACEA-1011 and ACEA-1021 were also ineffective as antagonists of PCP discrimination in rats. ACEA-1021 failed to substitute in rhesus monkeys trained to discriminate PCP from sham injection, although in the monkeys minimal effects were observed on rates of responding even at the highest dose tested (10.2mg/kg, i.v.). ACEA-1021 also failed to produce ethanol-like discriminative stimulus effects in rats under test conditions where PCP has been shown to produce substantial levels of substitution for ethanol. Both ACEA-1011 and ACEA-1021 were also evaluated as antagonists of NMDA discrimination in rats. ACEA-1011 produced some decreases in NMDA-lever responding, with the largest effect at one intermediate dose (3mg/kg, i.p.). ACEA-1021 was ineffective as an antagonist of NMDA discrimination. Unlike results reported for PCP-like NMDA antagonists, neither ACEA-1011 nor ACEA-1021 disrupted prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle reflex in rats. It was not possible to establish ACEA-1021 (10 or 15.6mg/kg) as a discriminative stimulus in rats. In conclusion, the novel glutamate antagonists ACEA-1011 and ACEA-1021 did not produce a profile of behavioral effects similar to that of PCP-like noncompetitive NMDA antagonists. These results are consistent with an emerging body of evidence showing differences in the behavioral effects of different classes of glutamate antagonists.