title: Effect of cocaine on the histaminergic neuron system in the rat brain.
abstract: To examine the effect of cocaine on the brain histamine neuron system, histamine levels and histamine N-methyltransferase activity in the rat brain were measured after the administration of cocaine. Moreover, we examined the effect of L-histidine on cocaine-induced wheel-running behavior. The administration of cocaine (20 mg/kg) increased histamine levels and histamine N-methyltransferase activity in the striatum, nucleus accumbens, and amygdala 1 h later. The pretreatment with L-histidine (350 and 700 mg/kg) inhibited the cocaine (20 mg/ kg)-induced increase of wheel-running activity in a dose-dependent manner. These findings suggest that cocaine activates the brain histamine neuron system, which may play the role of inhibiting the cocaine-induced wheel-running behavior.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Tohoku University School of Medicine, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Onodera
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sakurai
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Watanabe
mesh_terms: D000679:Amygdala / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism*; D003042:Cocaine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000378:metabolism; D006632:Histamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D006637:Histamine N-Methyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism; D006639:Histidine / Q000494:pharmacology; D007700:Kinetics; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism*; D009714:Nucleus Accumbens / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D006639:Histidine; D006632:Histamine; D006637:Histamine N-Methyltransferase; D003042:Cocaine