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Intragastric self-administration in rhesus monkeys under limited access conditions: methodological studies
Journal of Pharmacological Methods
|September 1, 1983
Summary
Rhesus monkeys learned to self-administer psychoactive drugs orally. Cocaine and pentobarbital were effective, while d-amphetamine was not, under specific conditions, offering insights into drug-seeking behaviors.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Pharmacology
- Neuroscience
- Drug Abuse Research
Background:
- Understanding the factors that drive oral drug self-administration is crucial for addiction research.
- Limited access and intermittent drug delivery schedules mimic real-world exposure patterns.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the feasibility of using intragastric drug self-administration in rhesus monkeys.
- To identify which psychoactive drugs can be maintained under specific operant conditioning schedules.
Main Methods:
- Rhesus monkeys were trained to self-administer drugs via an intragastric route.
- Fixed-ratio 10 schedules with and without timeouts were employed.
- Drugs tested included pentobarbital, diazepam, cocaine, and d-amphetamine.
Main Results:
- Pentobarbital, diazepam, and cocaine supported self-administration in some monkeys under a fixed-ratio 10 schedule.
- D-amphetamine did not maintain responding under these conditions.
- Cocaine and pentobarbital maintained self-administration in most tested animals under fixed-ratio 10 (timeout 2 min) conditions.
- Drug intake varied with dose, showing inverse, constant, or direct relationships depending on the drug.
Conclusions:
- Intragastric drug self-administration in rhesus monkeys is a viable model for studying oral drug intake.
- This method can differentiate between drugs that support self-administration, providing a valuable tool for behavioral and pharmacological research.