title: Acute buspirone dosing enhances abuse-related subjective effects of oral methamphetamine.
abstract: There is not an approved pharmacotherapy for treating methamphetamine use disorder. This study sought to determine the effects of acute buspirone treatment on the subjective and cardiovascular effects of oral methamphetamine in order to provide an initial assessment of the utility, safety, and tolerability of buspirone for managing methamphetamine use disorder. We predicted that acute buspirone administration would reduce the subjective effects of methamphetamine. We also predicted that the combination of buspirone and methamphetamine would be safe and well tolerated. Ten subjects completed the protocol, which tested three methamphetamine doses (0, 15, and 30mg) in combination with two buspirone doses (0 and 30mg) across 6 experimental sessions. Subjective effects and physiological measures were collected at regular intervals prior to and after dose administration. Methamphetamine produced prototypical subjective and cardiovascular effects. Acute buspirone administration increased some of the abuse-related subjective effects of methamphetamine and also attenuated some cardiovascular effects. The combination of oral methamphetamine and buspirone was safe and well tolerated. Acute buspirone administration may increase the abuse liability of oral methamphetamine. Chronic buspirone dosing studies remain to be conducted, but given preclinical findings and the outcomes of this work, the utility of buspirone for treating methamphetamine use disorder appears limited.
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Science, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Medical Behavioral Science Building, Lexington, KY 40536-0086, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky Arts and Sciences, Kastle Hall, Lexington, KY 40506-0044, USA.
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pike
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Science, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Medical Behavioral Science Building, Lexington, KY 40536-0086, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky Arts and Sciences, Kastle Hall, Lexington, KY 40506-0044, USA; Department of Psychiatry, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, 245 Fountain Court, Lexington, KY 40509, USA.
authors.forename: William W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Stoops
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Science, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Medical Behavioral Science Building, Lexington, KY 40536-0086, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky Arts and Sciences, Kastle Hall, Lexington, KY 40506-0044, USA; Department of Psychiatry, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, 245 Fountain Court, Lexington, KY 40509, USA. Electronic address: crush2@email.uky.edu.
authors.forename: Craig R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Rush
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019969:Amphetamine-Related Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D002065:Buspirone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D008694:Methamphetamine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D064232:Visual Analog Scale
chemical_list: D008694:Methamphetamine; D002065:Buspirone
keywords: Acute; Buspirone; Cardiovascular effects; Methamphetamine; Subjective effects