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Biomedical subjects

C R Schuster

Publications and source records attributed to C R Schuster.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

Methamphetamine-induced changes in brain catecholamines in rats and guinea pigs.

Repeated administration of methamphetamine was found to cause long-term changes in caudate dopamine levels in the rat and guinea pig. Methamphetamine was administered twice a day for thirty days. Two weeks following the last injection, the animals were killed and brains assayed for catecholamine content. These long-term depletions of dopamine, when combined with similar observations previously reported in rhesus monkeys, indicate a species generality of the effects of methamphetamine on caudate dopamine levels.

Animals↗

Cocaine plasma concentration: relation to physiological and subjective effects in humans.

Volunteer subjects with previous histories of cocaine use were administered cocaine hydrochloride intravenously or intranasally. There was a positive relationship between peak plasma concentration, physiological and subjective responses, and dose administered. The rate of cocaine disappearance after intravenous administration paralleled the drop in physiological and subjective drug effects. After intranasal administration, blood levels remained elevated for a considerably longer period.

Administration, Intranasal↗

Determination of cocaine in human urine, plasma and red blood cells by gas-liquid chromatography.

This paper describes a sensitive and reliable method for the determination of cocaine in human urine, plasma and red blood cells. Cocaine is extracted into cyclohexane from the biological materials at slightly alkaline pH, reduced with lithium aluminium hydride, acylated with pentafluoropropionic anhydride and detected by an electron capture detector. When compared with a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method the results of cocaine determination correlated highly (r = 0.986). When cocaine was given intravenously to volunteer subjects only 0.2-1.4% of the administered dose was excreted as unmetabolized cocaine in the first 9 h after administration. Plasma and red blood cell levels of cocaine were also determined by this method after intravenous administration.

Chromatography, Gas↗

Synthesis and biological activity of cocaine analogs I: N-alkylated norcocaine derivatives.

N-Allylnorcocaine, N-dimethylallylnorcocaine, and N-cyclopropylmethylnorcocaine were prepared and examined for cocaine-like activity. The compounds were prepared by alkylation of norcocaine, which was obtained by demethylation of cocaine with 2,2,2-trichloroethyl chloroformate followed by zinc--acetic acid reduction. The compounds were evaluated by comparison with cocaine in causing disruption of milk intake in rats, behavioral modification in squirrel monkeys, and inhibition of 3H-serotonin uptake by rat synaptosomes. The compounds showed cocaine-like activity less potent than cocaine in the latter two tests and were inactive in the milk intake test.

Animals↗

Effects of repeated administration of cocaine on schedule-controlled behavior of rats.

The effects of cocaine (4.0--32 mg/kg) on schedule-controlled behavior of rats were determined before and during a period of repeated administration of cocaine. In rats trained to lever press on a fixed ratio 40 schedule for food delivery, cocaine (8.0--32 mg/kg) initially decreased response rate in a dose-related manner. During the period of repeated administration, the effects of cocaine on response rate and running rate were attenuated in 2 rats and did not change in 2 others. When dose-effect functions of cocaine were redetermined, a shift to the right was observed in several measures indicating the development of tolerance to these effects of cocaine on performance. In rats trained to lever press on a DRL 20" schedule for food delivery, cocaine (4.0--32 mg/kg) increased response rates, decreased number of reinforcements per session and shifted interresponse time distributions to the left (shorter IRT's in all rats). During the period of repeated administration, the effects of the daily dose of cocaine (16 mg/kg) on all these measures were attenuated. Tolerance to cocaine was further indicated by a shift in the dose effect function of cocaine to the right during the redetermination.

Animals↗

Effects of passive immunization against morphine on heroin self-administration.

Antimorphine antibodies produced in Rhesus monkeys immunized with morphine-6-hemisuccinate-BSA were passively administered to recipient monkeys trained to self-administer heroin and cocaine. Following antibody administration, changes in heroin self-administration behavior were observed which were similar to those achieved with low doses of naloxone. Both manipulations increased heroin self-administration without affecting cocaine responding.

Animals↗

The effects of naloxone on behavior maintained by cocaine and heroin injections in the rhesus monkey.

The effects of repeated administration of naloxone on heroin and cocaine self-administration in non-dependent rhesus monkeys were investigated. Animals lever pressing for intravenous heroin (6 micron/kg) and cocaine (100 or 200 micron/kg) were treated for 7--10 days with naloxone at a fixed dose prior to each session. Low pretreatment doses of naloxone increased rate of responding maintained by herion. The pattern of responding over the 10-day period of treatment with the higher doses of naloxone was similar to that observed when saline was substituted for heroin. Naloxone was without effect on responding maintained by injections of cocaine.

Animals↗

Tolerance and cross-tolerance to cocaine and d-amphetamine.

The effects of cocaine (4.0-32 mg/kg) and d-amphetamine (0.5-4.0 mg/kg) on milk intake of rats were determined before and during periods of repeated daily administration of each drug. Experimental sessions consisted of 15 minutes access to 50 ml of a sweetened condensed milk solution. After the determination of the disruptive effects of single injections of cocaine or d-amphetamine on milk intake, rats were injected daily with either 16 mg/kg of cocaine 15 minutes before the session, 16 mg/kg of cocaine immediately after the session, 2.0 mg/kg of d-amphetamine 15 minutes before the session or saline before the session. During the period of repeated administration when milk intake had stabilized in each group, dose-effect functions for cocaine and d-amphetamine on milk intake were redetermined. On selected days, test doses of either drug were substituted for the usual daily injection. Test doses were separated by at least 3 days of stable intake after injection of the appropriate drug or saline. During the period of repeated administration, milk intake returned toward control levels for animals receiving daily cocaine or daily d-amphetamine before the session. Further, when the dose-effect functions for cocaine and d-amphetamine on milk intake were redetermined, a shift to the right (i.e., toward larger doses) was observed in all groups that had received drug presession during the repeated administration. This indicates that the animals became tolerant to cocaine and d-amphetamine as well as cross-tolerant to both drugs. The development of tolerance to cocaine was contingent upon the relationship of the time of injection to milk availability. Animals that had received postsession injections of cocaine during repeated administration were more sensitive to the effects of cocaine and d-amphetamine on milk intake.

Animals↗

An investigation of nalorphine and perphenazine as negative reinforcers in an escape paradigm.

Rhesus monkeys were trained to self-administer morphine intravenously at dose levels sufficient to develop physical dependence. The monkeys were then trained to press a lever to escape a continuous infusion of the morphine antagonist, nalorphine. When saline was substituted for the nalorphine, escape responding extinguished. After morphine self-administration was eliminated, responding to escape from nalorphine was maintained in the postdependent monkeys, showing no difference from escape responding during morphine dependence. Finally, perphenazine was substituted for the nalorphine and the monkeys reliably escaped continuous infusions of this phenothiazine. The escape procedure appears useful for analyzing the aversive properties of drugs.

Animals↗

Second-order schedules of intravenous drug self-administration in rhesus monkeys.

Lever-pressing behavior was generated and maintained in 3 rhesus monkeys by intravenous infusions of morphine or cocaine under a second-order schedule of reinforcement. Under this schedule, every tenth lever-press response (FR 10) during a fixed interval of time produced a 2 sec stimulus light. The first FR 10 completed after a 60 min interval had elapsed produced the stimulus light and an intravenous infusion of morphine or cocaine. The stimulus light remained on for the duration of the drug infusion (50-60 sec). Sessions of morphine or cocaine presentation, each with distinct stimulus light conditions, alternated on a daily basis. Under this schedule, single doses of morphine from 0.125 to 1.0 mg/kg maintained high overall response rates (maximum of 40 Rs/min) in the pattern characteristic of fixed interval (FI) schedules of reinforcement. There was no functional relationship between the response-rates and the doses of morphine tested. The simultaneous infusion of naloxone (0.125 mg/kg/) with morphine (0.25 mg/kg) markedly decreased response rates. However, the infusion of the same dose of naloxone five min after the presentation of morphine failed to suppress self-administration behavior. Naloxone had no effects on cocaine-reinforced responding.

Animals↗

Long-term behavioral changes in the rhesus monkey after multiple daily injections of d-methylamphetamine.

The effects of multiple daily injections of d-methylamphetamine on spaced lever-press responding were investigated in the rhesus monkey. Responding was measured after single injections of d-mehtylamphetamine (0.0625-1.0 mg/kg) both before and after the monkeys were maintained on a multiple daily d-methylamphetamine injection regimen in doses ranging from 0.5 to 16 mg/kg/day. Tolerance developed to the suppressant effects of this drug on responding. As evidenced by a shift in the dose-response curve measuring number of responses and number of reinforcements per session, this tolerance persisted for at least three months after cessation of the multiple drug injection regimen. In order for tolerance to develop, it was necessary for the animals to perform the task while maintained on drug. When saline was substituted for d-methylamphetamine, no evidence of a withdrawal syndrome was seen.

Animals↗