title: Lack of sensitization to the effects of d-amphetamine and apomorphine on sensorimotor gating in rats.
abstract: This study assessed whether repeated injections of d-amphetamine or apomorphine could induce sensitization to the disruptive effects of these psychomotor stimulants on sensorimotor gating in rats. In the first experiment, rats were given six pre-exposures to either 2.0 mg/kg d-amphetamine or saline before being tested for the effects of d-amphetamine (0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 or 4.0 mg/kg, i.p.) on prepulse inhibition of acoustic startle (PPI) and locomotor activity. The tests for PPI confirmed that sensorimotor gating could be disrupted by a high dose of d-amphetamine (4.0 mg/kg). However, comparison of the dose-response curves for the drug and saline pre-exposed groups did not reveal evidence for sensitization to this d-amphetamine effect in drug-pre-exposed rats, despite indications that sensitization had developed to the locomotor stimulant effects of d-amphetamine. A similar pattern of results was obtained in a second experiment that examined the effects of apomorphine (0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.8 mg/kg, s.c.) on PPI and locomotion in rats pre-exposed to 2.0 mg/kg of this drug or its vehicle. These findings demonstrate that treatments which induce sensitization to the behavioral activating effects of psychomotor stimulants do not necessarily produce sensitization to the disruptive effects of stimulants on sensorimotor gating. The implications of these results for hypotheses linking sensitization-like processes to the etiology of schizophrenia are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Veterans Administration Medical Center, 19104, USA.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Druhan
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Geyer
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Valentino
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001058:Apomorphine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003913:Dextroamphetamine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018491:Dopamine Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018765:Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013216:Reflex, Startle / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D018491:Dopamine Agonists; D018765:Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors; D001058:Apomorphine; D003913:Dextroamphetamine