Reinforcing and Stimulant-Like Effects of Methamphetamine Isomers in Rhesus Macaques

Monoamine releasers such as d-methamphetamine (d-MA) can reduce cocaine use in laboratory studies and have been forwarded for the management of cocaine use disorder (CUD). However, the proven abuse liability of d-MA has limited enthusiasm for clinical use. The levorotatory isomer of MA, l-MA, appears to have lesser stimulant effects, possibly due to its preferential norepinephrine-releasing properties compared with dopamine. The present study evaluated the abuse potential of l-MA by comparing its reinforcing effects with known stimulant drugs of abuse in nonhuman primates. Adult rhesus macaques (N = 4) responded for intravenous injections of cocaine, d-MA, methcathinone (MCAT), or l-MA under a fixed-ratio (FR) schedule of reinforcement; reinforcing effectiveness was evaluated using behavioral economic demand procedures. In a separate cohort (N = 9), daily activity and food-reinforced responding were assessed during 100 days of treatment with daily dosages of l-MA (2.3 mg/kg per day, i.v.) or d-MA (0.74 mg/kg per day, i.v.) previously shown to decrease cocaine self-administration. Results show that all drugs maintained self-administration, with peak injections reaching ∼100 inj per session for cocaine, MCAT, and d-MA and ∼50 inj per session for l-MA . In demand studies, self-administration of each drug gradually decreased as FR size increased. The exponential model of demand indicated that the reinforcing effectiveness of l-MA was significantly less than the other drugs studied. Chronic l-MA treatment did not appreciably alter daily activity and only transiently suppressed food-reinforced responding. These data, coupled with previous findings that l-MA effectively reduces stimulant self-administration, suggest that l-MA, or other norepinephrine-preferring releasers, may serve as agonist medication for CUD with lesser abuse liability than common psychostimulants. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Development of pharmacotherapies for cocaine use disorder remains a formidable challenge. Agonist-based therapies show promise, but enthusiasm is tempered by the abuse liability of previously proposed medications. This study evaluated the abuse liability and chronic treatment effects of methamphetamine's levorotatory isomer (l-MA). l-MA demonstrated lower abuse liability compared with commonly abused stimulants and produced few untoward effects. In the context of recent studies demonstrating that l-MA attenuates stimulant self-administration, these findings support l-MA's potential as a pharmacotherapy for stimulant addiction.