Nicotine cue in rats analysed with drugs acting on cholinergic and 5-hydroxytryptamine mechanisms

The nicotine discriminative stimulus (cue) has been used to characterize further the underlying receptor mechanisms. Rats were trained to discriminate the effects of nicotine in a standard, two-bar operant conditioning procedure with food reinforcement. Mecamylamine blocked both the discriminative effect of nicotine and the reducing effect on the response-rate. The block of the discriminative effect could not be overcome by increasing the dose of nicotine, whereas the block of the reducing effect on the response-rate could be reversed. Mecamylamine was effective when administered by either the subcutaneous or the intraventricular route, but hexamethonium was inactive by both routes. Mecamylamine, but not hexamethonium, blocked the discriminative effect of the nicotinic cholinergic agonist, cytisine. Methergoline did not block the discriminative effects of nicotine, even in doses considerably larger than those which blocked the discriminative effects of the 5-HT agonist, quipazine. Mecamylamine did not block the effects of quipazine. The results are consistent with the view that the nicotinic cue is mediated primarily through cholinergic receptors, and that 5-HT mechanisms are not involved. The block of the quipazine cue supports the view that the discriminative effects of this drug are mediated through 5-HT receptors.