Effects of GABA agonists and GABA-A receptor modulators on cocaine discrimination in rhesus monkeys.
BACKGROUND
Dopaminergic systems thought to mediate the abuse-related effects of cocaine are under inhibitory control by GABAergic systems. These findings suggest that GABA agonists may attenuate some abuse-related effects of cocaine.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the effects of GABA receptor agonists and GABA-A receptor modulators on cocaine discrimination in rhesus monkeys.


METHODS
Rhesus monkeys were trained to discriminate 0.4 mg/kg cocaine from saline in a two-key, food-reinforced drug discrimination task. The effects of the GABA-A agonist muscimol, the GABA-B agonist baclofen, the barbiturate GABA-A receptor modulator pentobarbital, and the benzodiazepine GABA-A modulators triazolam and imidazenil were examined alone and as pretreatments to cocaine. For comparison, the effects of pentobarbital pretreatment on the cocaine-like discriminative stimulus effects of amphetamine were also examined.


RESULTS
When administered alone, the GABA agonists and GABA-A receptor modulators produced primarily saline-appropriate responding. When administered as pretreatments to cocaine, pentobarbital attenuated the discriminative stimulus effects of cocaine in all monkeys tested, and the high efficacy benzodiazepine agonist triazolam attenuated cocaine's effects in three of five monkeys. Muscimol, baclofen and the low efficacy benzodiazepine agonist imidazenil did not alter cocaine's discriminative stimulus effects. Although pentobarbital blocked the effects of the monoamine reuptake blocker cocaine, it did not alter the cocaine-like effects of the monoamine releaser amphetamine.


CONCLUSIONS
These results are consistent with the hypothesis that GABA-A receptor modulators attenuate the discriminative stimulus effects of cocaine in rhesus monkeys by decreasing the activity of dopaminergic systems. Direct GABA receptor agonists may be less effective in blocking the abuse-related effects of cocaine in rhesus monkeys.
Negus
S S
SS
Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Center, Harvard Medical School-McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA 02478, USA. negus@mclean.harvard.edu
Mello
N K
NK
Fivel
P A
PA
D000661:Amphetamine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology; D003042:Cocaine / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D018755:GABA Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018757:GABA Modulators / Q000494:pharmacology; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008297:Male; D010424:Pentobarbital / Q000494:pharmacology; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A / Q000378:metabolism*
D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D018755:GABA Agonists; D018757:GABA Modulators; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A; D000661:Amphetamine; D010424:Pentobarbital; D003042:Cocaine