P-chloroamphetamine and a side-chain fluorinated analog: effects on brain amine levels and behavior

Reserpinized (1 mg/kg, IP-24 hr) and saline-pretreated male rats were subdivided into groups receiving p-chloroamphetamine (pCA, 5.2 mg/kg, IP), 1-fluoromethyl-2-p-chlorophenylethylamine (FpCA, 5.6 mg/kg, IP), or saline, 90 minutes before the testing of behavior in the open-field and 150 minutes before sacrifice for assay of brain levels of amines. FpCA and pCA produced identical investigative and social patterns of behavior in saline pretreated animals in spite of the fact that pCA reduced serotonin levels whereas FpCA did not. Both pCA and FpCA enhanced dopamine and noradrenaline levels compared to saline controls. The behavioral syndrome common to FpCA and pCA animals was one of increased sitting still, and decreased locomotion and self-grooming while alone, and decreased locomotion, and social behavior but increased sniffing of the environment while in the company of an untreated male rat. Reserpine pretreatment exacerbated this syndrome of inactivity in pCA more than in FpCA rats even though the reserpinized groups did not differ from each other in the concentrations of the three amines.