title: Discriminative and locomotor effects of five synthetic cathinones in rats and mice.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Synthetic cathinones continue to be sold as "legal" alternatives to methamphetamine or cocaine. As these marginally legal compounds become controlled, suppliers move to other, unregulated compounds.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of these experiments was to determine whether several temporarily controlled cathinone compounds, which are currently abused on the street, stimulate motor activity and have discriminative stimulus effects similar to cocaine and/or methamphetamine.
  
  
  METHODS
  Methcathinone, pentedrone, pentylone, 3-fluoromethcathinone (3-FMC), and 4-methylethcathinone (4-MEC) were tested for locomotor stimulant effects in mice and subsequently for substitution in rats trained to discriminate cocaine (10 mg/kg, i.p.) or methamphetamine (1 mg/kg, i.p.) from saline.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Methcathinone, pentedrone, and pentylone produced locomotor stimulant effects which lasted up to 6 h. In addition, pentylone produced convulsions and lethality at 100 mg/kg. 4-MEC produced locomotor stimulant effects which lasted up to 2 h. Methcathinone, pentedrone, pentylone, 3-FMC, and 4-MEC each produced discriminative stimulus effects similar to those of cocaine and methamphetamine.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  All of the tested compounds produce discriminative stimulus effects similar to either those of cocaine, methamphetamine, or both, which suggests that these compounds are likely to have similar abuse liability to cocaine and/or methamphetamine. Pentylone may be more dangerous on the street, as it produced adverse effects at doses that produced maximal stimulant-like effects.
authors.affiliation: Pharmacology & Neuroscience, University of North Texas Health Science Center, 3500 Camp Bowie Blvd, Fort Worth, TX, 76107-2699, USA, michael.gatch@unthsc.edu.
authors.forename: Michael B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Gatch
authors.forename: Margaret A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Rutledge
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Forster
mesh_terms: D000470:Alkaloids / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000662:Amphetamines / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000494:pharmacology; D003042:Cocaine / Q000494:pharmacology; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D008694:Methamphetamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D051379:Mice; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D000470:Alkaloids; D000662:Amphetamines; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D008694:Methamphetamine; C023665:cathinone; D003042:Cocaine; C000593098:pentylone