title: Comparison of the effects of clozapine and 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin (8-OH-DPAT) on progressive ratio schedule performance: evidence against the involvement of 5-HT1A receptors in the behavioural effects of clozapine.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Performance on progressive ratio schedules has been proposed as a means of assessing the effects of drugs on the efficacy of reinforcers. A mathematical model (Killeen PR (1994) Mathematical principles of reinforcement. Behav Brain Sci 17:105-172) affords a basis for quantifying the effects of drugs on progressive ratio schedule performance. The model postulates a bitonic function relating response rate and ratio size. One parameter of the function, a, expresses the motivational effect of the reinforcer, whereas another parameter, delta, expresses the minimum time needed to execute a response, and is regarded as an index of 'motor capacity'. Previously we found that the atypical antipsychotic clozapine increased a, indicating an increase in reinforcer efficacy; a similar effect was observed with the 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)(1A) receptor agonist 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin (8-OH-DPAT). It has been suggested that some of clozapine's behavioural effects are mediated by agonistic action at 5-HT(1A) receptors.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study was conducted to compare the effects of clozapine and 8-OH-DPAT on progressive ratio schedule performance.
  
  
  METHODS
  Rats were trained under a time-constrained progressive ratio schedule (50-min sessions). In experiment 1, they received acute doses of clozapine (4 mg kg(-1)) and 8-OH-DPAT (100 microg kg(-1)), alone and in combination with the 5-HT(1A) receptor antagonist N-[2-(4-[2-methoxyphenyl]-1-piperazinyl)ethyl]-N-2-yridinylcyclohexanecarboxamide (WAY-100635; 30 microg kg(-1)). In experiment 2, the effects of clozapine (2, 4 and 8 mg kg(-1)) and 8-OH-DPAT (25, 50 and 100 microg kg(-1)) were compared between intact rats and rats whose 5-HTergic pathways had been ablated by 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (5,7-DHT).
  
  
  RESULTS
  In both experiments, clozapine and 8-OH-DPAT increased a and delta. In experiment 1, WAY-100635 abolished the effect of 8-OH-DPAT on a and delta, but did not alter clozapine's effects on these parameters. In experiment 2, the effects of clozapine and 8-OH-DPAT did not differ between sham-lesioned and 5,7-DHT-lesioned rats.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results confirm previous findings on the effects of clozapine and 8-OH-DPAT on progressive ratio schedule performance. 8-OH-DPAT's effects are probably mediated by post-synaptic 5-HT(1A) receptors; clozapine's effects are mediated by a different mechanism, which does not appear to involve 5-HT(1A) receptors and which does not depend upon an intact 5-HTergic pathway.
authors.affiliation: Psychopharmacology Section, Division of Psychiatry, University of Nottingham, Medical School, Queen's Medical Centre, UK.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Rickard
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Body
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Asgari
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Bradshaw
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Szabadi
mesh_terms: D017371:8-Hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D003024:Clozapine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D011600:Psychopharmacology / Q000379:methods; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D044263:Receptors, Serotonin, 5-HT1 / Q000502:physiology*; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule; D058825:Serotonin 5-HT1 Receptor Agonists; D058829:Serotonin 5-HT1 Receptor Antagonists; D012702:Serotonin Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D017366:Serotonin Receptor Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D044263:Receptors, Serotonin, 5-HT1; D058825:Serotonin 5-HT1 Receptor Agonists; D058829:Serotonin 5-HT1 Receptor Antagonists; D012702:Serotonin Antagonists; D017366:Serotonin Receptor Agonists; D017371:8-Hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin; D003024:Clozapine