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Effects of selective D1 and D2 dopamine antagonists on cocaine self-administration in the rat

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Abstract

The effect of the selective D1 antagonist, SCH 23390, and the selective D2 antagonist, spiperone, was investigated in rats trained to self-administer intravenous cocaine on a fixed-ratio (FR) 5 schedule of reinforcement. Both SCH 23390 and spiperone pretreatment increased responding up to doses of 10.0 µg/kg, and decreased responding at higher doses. Since rate of responding maintained by a drug can be influenced by factors other than its reinforcing efficacy, behavior maintained by cocaine was also investigated under a progressive-ratio schedule. The breaking point obtained under this schedule is used as a measure of the efficacy of the reinforcer and this value is not exclusively determined by response rate. With the progressive-ratio schedule, both SCH 23390 and spiperone produced dose-dependent decreases in the highest ratio completed in rats self-administering cocaine. The results obtained using the FR 5 and progressive-ratio schedules suggest that both D1 and D2 receptors are involved in mediating the reinforcing effects of cocaine.

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  1. Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, 20 North Pine Street, MD 21201, Baltimore, USA

    Carol B. Hubner & J. Edward Moreton

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  1. Carol B. Hubner
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  2. J. Edward Moreton
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Hubner, C.B., Edward Moreton, J. Effects of selective D1 and D2 dopamine antagonists on cocaine self-administration in the rat. Psychopharmacology 105, 151–156 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02244301

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02244301

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