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Drug effects on multiple and concurrent schedules of ethanol- and food-maintained behaviour: context-dependent
1Departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA.
British Journal of Pharmacology
|April 5, 2014
Summary
Drug selectivity for reducing alcohol-maintained behavior is assay-dependent. What appears selective in one experimental setup may not be in another, impacting alcoholism pharmacotherapy research.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacology
- Behavioral Neuroscience
- Addiction Research
Background:
- Selective drugs effectively reduce alcohol-maintained behavior over alternatives, showing promise for alcoholism pharmacotherapy.
- Previous studies indicated selectivity for fluvoxamine and varenicline when food and alcohol were sequential, but this was lost when concurrent.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if the loss of drug selectivity observed with concurrent access applies to other drugs.
- To compare drug effects on ethanol versus food reinforcement under multiple and concurrent schedules.
Main Methods:
- Tested chlordiazepoxide, DOI, mCPP, morphine, naltrexone, and d-amphetamine.
- Determined drug doses (ED50) to decrease responding maintained by ethanol or food under multiple and concurrent schedules.
Main Results:
- Under multiple schedules, most drugs showed selectivity for reducing ethanol over food responding.
- Selectivity was lost or inverted under concurrent schedules, with ED50 values becoming similar or favoring food over ethanol.
Conclusions:
- Drug selectivity for reducing ethanol-maintained responding is assay-dependent, disappearing under concurrent schedules.
- Results emphasize the need for careful interpretation of selective drug effects, especially in preclinical models.
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