Clozapine attenuates cocaine conditioned place preference.
Clozapine, an atypical neuroleptic, has dopamine and serotonin antagonist actions that suggest its potential as a cocaine abuse pharmacotherapy. Yet, self-administration and discriminative stimulus studies in animals have reported both an enhancement and a partial blockade of cocaine's behavioral effects with clozapine. The present study examines further the effects of clozapine on cocaine conditioned place preference. Clozapine (10 mg/kg, s.c.) treatment significantly attenuated the development of cocaine (10 mg/kg, i.p.) conditioned place preference. These results, coupled with research that shows clozapine has limited extrapyramidal side effects, suggest that it should be considered as a pharmacotherapy for cocaine abuse.
Division of Substance Abuse, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06519.
T A
TA
Kosten
E J
EJ
Nestler
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D003024:Clozapine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003042:Cocaine / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013037:Spatial Behavior / Q000187:drug effects*
D003042:Cocaine; D003024:Clozapine