Methcathinone self-administration decreases dopamine and serotonin transporter function in rats

Methcathinone is a synthetic cathinone that has high misuse liability and produces its stimulant effects through acute actions on monoaminergic transporters, including the dopamine and serotonin transporters. While direct effects of methcathinone on monoaminergic transporters have been studied in cells lines and rodent synaptosomes, the impact of methcathinone self-administration has not been reported. Since evidence suggests that investigator-administered drug and/or in vitro drug exposure do not necessarily model the impact of drug self-administration, this study tested whether methcathinone self-administration acutely affects striatal dopamine or hippocampal serotonin transporter function.

Adult male Sprague Dawley rats underwent 7 consecutive days of selfadministration (FR1; 240min/session; 0.18mg/10μl infusion of methcathinone or 10 μl saline). [3 H]Monoamine uptake was assessed 1h after the final session.

Methcathinone was readily self-administered by male rats and rapidly decreases striatal dopamine and hippocampal serotonin transporter function.

This pilot study contributes to a body of literature that MCAT has high misuse liability and affects DAT and SERT function. MCAT self-administration in rodents provides a model to investigate mechanisms underlying the neurochemical impact of this synthetic cathinone.