Behavioral effects of selective dopaminergic compounds in rats discriminating cocaine injections

The involvement of dopamine receptor subtypes in the discriminative stimulus effects of cocaine was evaluated by the ability of a series of compounds selective for D1 or D2 dopamine receptors to produce discriminative stimulus effects comparable to cocaine. Male, Sprague-Dawley rats were trained to discriminate 10 mg/kg of cocaine HCI from saline in a two-lever discrimination procedure. Inhibitors of catecholamine and serotonin reuptake (GBR 12909, WIN 35,428 and mazindol), d-amphetamine, and the nonselective dopamine agonist, apomorphine, produced dose-dependent increases in cocaine-appropriate responding and fully substituted for cocaine. Cocaine methiodide, a charged, quaternary cocaine analog, did not substitute for cocaine. Neither pentobarbital, haloperidol nor SCH 23390 produced cocaine-like behavioral activity. Both D1- and D2-selective agonists with diverse structures partially substituted for cocaine, producing from 40 to 80% cocaine-appropriate responses. The D1 agonists studied were SKF 38393 and stereoisomers, SKF 75670 and CY 208-243. Dihydrexidine, a full D1 agonist for induction of adenylate cyclase activity, also only partially substituted for cocaine. The peripherally acting D1 agonist, fenoldopam, produced predominantly saline-appropriate responding that was unrelated to dose. The D2 agonists tested were pergolide, quinpirole, (-)-NPA, RU 24213, N-0434 and N-0437. The D2 antagonist haloperidol did not block the discriminative stimulus effects of cocaine. In contrast, the D1 antagonist SCH 23390 reduced the discriminative stimulus effects of cocaine by a maximum of 50%. These results suggest that both D1 and D2 receptors may play a role in the discriminative stimulus effects of cocaine but that stimulation of either dopamine receptor subtype alone is not sufficient.