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Phencyclidine-induced release of [3H]dopamine from chopped striatal tissue.

Phencyclidine was examined for its ability to release [3H]dopamine ([3H]DA) from prelabelled chopped rat striatal tissue. A dynamic perfusion system was used in order to minimize the effects of drugs on uptake mechanisms. Cocaine and S-(+)-amphetamine were used to distinguish uptake inhibition from a neurotransmitter releasing action. Phencyclidine, starting at 3 microM caused a dose-dependent increase in efflux of [3H]DA from chopped striatal tissue. In this same preparation, cocaine, a known neuronal uptake inhibitor of dopamine, was unable to release [3H]DA except in the largest dose of 100 microM. S-(+)Amphetamine, a known releaser of neuronal dopamine, was found to be about ten times more potent then phencyclidine in causing a dose-dependent release of [3H]DA. The results of the above experiments are discussed in relation to the ability of phencyclidine to decrease the synaptosomal accumulation of [3H]DA. It is concluded that some of the psychoactive effects of phencyclidine may be due to the ability of phencyclidine to elicit a release of dopamine from dopaminergic neurons.

Animals↗

Interactions between phencyclidine and cholinergic excitation of hippocampal pyramidal neurons.

The interaction between phencyclidine and acetylcholine-evoked responses of hippocampal pyramidal neurons was investigated in normal and catecholamine-depleted rats. Phencyclidine antagonized the acetylcholine-induced excitations in both preparations. However, in the majority of cases, this effect was observed only at doses of phencyclidine which also manifested nonspecific membrane stabilization. In contrast, phencyclidine-induced decreases in firing rate, which have been shown to be mediated by catecholamines, occurred at doses of phencyclidine which do not cause local anesthesia. Taken together, these data suggest that the catecholaminergically-mediated effects of phencyclidine may be more important in the hippocampus.

Acetylcholine↗

Discriminative stimulus effects of N-substituted analogs of phencyclidine in rhesus monkeys.

In daily sessions of a two-lever, discrete-trial, food-reinforced procedure, rhesus monkeys were trained to discriminate between subcutaneous injections of ketamine (1.0 or 1.8 mg/kg) and control injections. In tests of stimulus generalization, cumulative doses of drugs were administered in single sessions and either control- or ketamine-appropriate responding produced food. Ketamine (1.8 and 3.2 mg/kg) and phencyclidine (0.32 mg/kg) produced an average of more than 90% ketamine-appropriate responding. In contrast, d-amphetamine, atropine, chlorpromazine, codeine, diazepam and quipazine, tested at doses up to and including those that markedly reduced response rates, produced exclusively control-appropriate responding. Dose-related ketamine-appropriate responding was produced by each of ten 1-phenylcyclohexylamines, the potencies of which varied with the length, electronegativity, and number of N-alkyl chains present. The most potent analog of phencyclidine, N-ethyl-1-phenylcyclohexylamine, was approximately equipotent with phencyclidine. These data are consistent with previous reports that the discriminative stimulus effects produced by phencyclidine are representative of a unique class of drugs, and that alkyl substitutions in the region of the piperidine ring alter the potency, but not the characteristic pharmacological activity, of the resulting analogs. The potencies of some of these analogs compared to phencyclidine in rhesus monkeys, however, differed from their relative potencies in rodents. Thus, there appear to be species differences in the role of the nitrogen pharmacophore of these compounds in producing phencyclidine-like behavioral effects.

Animals↗

Quantitative electrocortical changes in the rat induced by phencyclidine and other stimulants.

An automated technique for the continuous analysis of different frequency bands of the electrocorticogram (ECoG) of the rat has been used to quantify the actions of phencyclidine (PCP) and various other stimulant drugs. It has been demonstrated that phencyclidine, etoxadrol and LY154045 produced similar changes in the individual frequency bands whereas amphetamine and apomorphine had different profiles of activity. The phencyclidine-like compounds exhibited extremely strong stimulation of the ECoG with very large increases recorded in high frequency (15-50 Hz) activity and reductions in all other frequency bands. Various compounds have been used in an attempt to antagonise the changes in the ECoG. Chlorpromazine caused a slight shift in the dose-response curves as did chlordiazepoxide when used with phencyclidine. The GABA agonists, THIP and muscimol, had no effect on the stimulation of the ECoG. In contrast another presumed GABA agonist, baclofen, proved to be the most effective agent for blocking the stimulation induced by phencyclidine. The role of the GABAB receptor in the action of phencyclidine is discussed.

Animals↗

Electrophysiological effects of phencyclidine in the medial prefrontal cortex of the rat.

The effects of local applications of phencyclidine (PCP) and dopamine (DA) on neurons of the medial prefrontal cortex were investigated using single unit recording techniques. The activity of the majority of cells in the deeper layers of the medial prefrontal cortex was depressed by both phencyclidine and DA, whereas increases, as well as decreases, in the firing rates were observed in cells located in the superficial cortical layers. The stereospecificity of the responses of deeper cells to phencyclidine was demonstrated using the enantiomers of 1-(-1-phenylcyclohexyl)-3-methylpiperidine (PCMP). Phencyclidine was found to be 1.5 times more potent than (+) PCMP and 3 times more potent than (-) PCMP. Finally, the DA receptor antagonist fluphenazine, blocked the phencyclidine-elicited depressions of unit activity in the deep prefrontal cortex. Taken together, the data indicate that the DA-like effects of phencyclidine on neurons of the medial prefrontal cortex are mediated by DA receptors and provide pharmacological support for the idea that psychomotor stimulant drugs have specific actions on targets of the ventral tegmental area (A10) dopamine system.

Animals↗

Phencyclidine-induced head-weaving and head-twitch through interaction with 5-HT1 and 5-HT2 receptors in reserpinized rats.

Phencyclidine mainly produced head-weaving and head-twitches at doses of 5-7.5 mg/kg and of 7.5-12.5 mg/kg, respectively. Phencyclidine-induced head-twitches and head-weaving were blocked by pretreatment with ritanserin (1 mg/kg), a selective serotonin (5-HT)2 receptor antagonist and with pindolol (20 mg/kg, s.c.), a 5-HT1 receptor antagonist, respectively. In reserpine-pretreated rats, the degree of utilization of 5-HT and the number of 5-HT1 ([3H]5-HT) and 5-HT2 ([3H]ketanserin) binding sites were significantly increased compared with the figures for the vehicle-pretreated rats. The intensity of phencyclidine-induced head-weaving (at the dose of 2.5 mg/kg) and head-twitch (at the doses of 2.5 and 5 mg/kg) was significantly increased in reserpine-pretreated rats compared with that of vehicle-pretreated rats. Furthermore, in the reserpine-pretreated rats, the intensity of phencyclidine (1.25 mg/kg)-induced head-weaving and head-twitches was increased in combination with imipramine, while the intensity of phencyclidine (2.5 mg/kg)-induced head-weaving and head-twitch was decreased by pretreatment with mianserin, a non-selective 5-HT receptor antagonist. These results indicate that phencyclidine induced head-weaving by interacting with 5-HT1 receptors, indirectly after the release of 5-HT and/or with some other mechanisms and induced head-twitch by interacting with 5-HT2 receptors directly and/or indirectly.

Animals↗

Comparison of the actions of phencyclidine and sigma ligands on CA1 hippocampal pyramidal neurons in the rat.

To compare the actions of prototypic drugs which are selective for phencyclidine and sigma receptors, the electrophysiological effects of phencyclidine (PCP),3-[3-hydroxyphenyl]-N-(1-propyl)piperidine [+)3-PPP), and 1,3-di(2-tolyl)guanidine (DTG) on CA1 hippocampal pyramidal neurons were examined. A wide range of concentrations of drug was tested to differentiate specific, receptor-mediated effects from nonselective, anesthetic-like actions. At relatively large concentrations (0.1-1 mM), each compound reversibly increased the threshold of action potentials driven by Schaffer collaterals, the duration of action potentials and membrane resistance. The low potencies and rank order of potency suggested that phencyclidine, (+)3-PPP, and DTG were not acting through either high affinity sigma or phencyclidine receptors. These compounds did have receptor-mediated effects at smaller concentrations. Since none of the compounds affected evoked excitatory or inhibitory postsynaptic potentials (EPSP or IPSP) or driven action potentials at subanesthetic concentrations (less than 100 microM), no evidence was found to support the hypothesis that the actions of phencyclidine result from enhanced release of transmitter, caused by the inhibition of a presynaptic potassium conductance. As observed in other neurons, phencyclidine blocked excitations in CA1 pyramidal cells mediated by N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) at behaviorally relevant concentrations (1-10 microM). However, (+)3-PPP (1 microM-1 mM) enhanced the pyramidal cell response to NMDA. Alone, DTG did not effect the NMDA-induced response but did inhibit the enhancement induced by (+)3-PPP. The agonist and antagonist actions of the sigma-selective ligands, (+)3-PPP and DTG, suggests that they modify NMDA-induced responses by acting at the sigma receptor.

Action Potentials↗

Effects of phencyclidine, d-amphetamine and pentobarbital on schedule-controlled behavior in rats.

The effects of phencyclidine, d-amphetamine, and pentobarbital on responding maintained under a multiple fixed-interval (FI) 3-min fixed-ratio (FR) 30 schedule of food presentation were studied in rats. Phencyclidine (0.32-7.5 mg/kg) had a biphasic effect on overall response rate in both components; response rate increased and then decreased as the dose was increased. The FR was slightly more sensitive to the rate-decreasing effects of phencyclidine than the FI. The effects of d-amphetamine (0.1-7.5 mg/kg) on overall response rate were qualitatively similar to those of phencyclidine. The FI tended to be slightly more sensitive than the FR to the rate-increasing effects of d-amphetamine. Pentobarbital (1-18 mg/kg) produced little or no rate-increasing effects in the FR at low doses and decreased FR response rate at higher doses. In the FI, pentobarbital produced small increases in overall rate at intermediate doses while decreasing response rate at higher doses. The FR tended to be more sensitive than the FI to the rate-decreasing effects of pentobarbital. Unlike d-amphetamine and pentobarbital, phencyclidine produced smaller rate-increasing effects when the dose-effect curves were redetermined. Within the FI, the effects of phencyclidine and d-amphetamine on response rate were generally independent of the control rate of responding.

Animals↗

Nicotine can attenuate the disruptive effects of phencyclidine on repeated acquisition in monkeys.

Patas monkeys acquired a different four-response chain each session by responding sequentially on three levers in the presence of four discriminative stimuli (numerals). The response chain was maintained by food presentation under a fixed-ratio schedule. Errors produced a brief timeout but did not reset the chain. Each day there were four 15-min sessions, with a 10-min intersession interval. Cumulative dose-effect curves for phencyclidine were obtained by giving an IM injection before each of the four sessions; successive injections increased the cumulative dose by 1/4 log-unit steps. When phencyclidine was administered alone, overall response rate decreased and percent errors increased with increasing doses. When nicotine was administered alone (IM) before the first session, the higher doses initially produced large decreases in overall response rate. Unlike phencyclidine, nicotine alone generally had no effect on percent errors. When intermediate or high doses of phencyclidine were administered after pretreatment with certain doses of nicotine, both the rate-decreasing and error-increasing effects were smaller than those produced by phencyclidine alone. This attenuation of the disruptive effects of phencyclidine on acquisition occurred at a time when nicotine alone had little or no behavioral effect.

Animals↗

Brain serotonin depletion by lesions of the median raphe nucleus enhances the psychotomimetic action of phencyclidine, but not dizocilpine (MK-801), in rats.

We have previously shown that brain serotonin depletion by lesions of the median raphe nucleus (MRN) causes enhancement of phencyclidine-induced locomotor hyperactivity [S. Kusljic, D.L. Copolov, M. van den Buuse, Differential role of serotonergic projections arising from the dorsal and median raphe nuclei in locomotor hyperactivity and prepulse inhibition, Neuropsychopharmacology 28 (2003) 2138-2147]. In this study, we extend our previous work by (1) comparing the effect of phencyclidine with that of another NMDA receptor antagonist, dizocilpine (MK-801); (2) investigate behavioral changes in more detail; (3) assess in detail the effect of raphe lesions on regional serotonin levels in the brain. Male Sprague-Dawley rats received microinjection of the serotonergic neurotoxin 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine into the MRN or dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN). The effects of treatment with saline, phencyclidine and MK-801 on locomotor activity were determined 2 weeks after the surgery. MRN lesions caused serotonin depletion in the dorsal hippocampus, whereas DRN lesions caused serotonin depletion in the frontal cortex, striatum and ventral hippocampus. There was a significant increase in phencyclidine-induced locomotor hyperactivity in the MRN-lesioned group compared to sham-operated controls. Further analysis of behavior showed that phencyclidine-induced hyperambulation, but not stereotypy or rearing, was significantly higher in MRN-lesioned rats compared to controls. In contrast, there was no significant effect of the lesions on the psychotomimetic effect of MK-801. These results indicate that a hyposerotonergic state induced by destruction of projections from the MRN leads to altered brain circuitry that is responsible for the regulation of phencyclidine-but not MK-801-induced locomotor hyperactivity. Thus, MRN projections may play an inhibitory role in mechanisms involved in symptoms of schizophrenia.

5,7-Dihydroxytryptamine↗

The neuronal selective nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, Nomega-propyl-L-arginine, blocks the effects of phencyclidine on prepulse inhibition and locomotor activity in mice.

Phencyclidine has frequently been used to model schizophrenia in animals. In the present study, the ability of the neuronal selective nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor, Nomega-propyl-L-arginine, to block the behavioural effects of phencyclidine in mice was investigated. N(omega)-propyl-L-arginine (20 mg/kg) was found to block both phencyclidine (4 mg/kg)-induced disruption of prepulse inhibition and phencyclidine-induced stimulation of locomotor activity in the mice tested. It is concluded that the NOS-sensitive behavioural effects of phencyclidine in rodents is dependent on neuronal NOS and that NO may play a role in the psychotomimetic effects of phencyclidine.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

Object retrieval/detour deficits in monkeys produced by prior subchronic phencyclidine administration: evidence for cognitive impulsivity.

BACKGROUND: Impulsivity associated with frontal cortical dysfunction appears to be a direct consequence of chronic consumption of drugs of abuse, though few investigations in animals have attempted to directly address this issue. In this study the effects of repeated, intermittent administration of a psychotomimetic drug of abuse, phencyclidine, on the acquisition and performance of a task sensitive to corticostriatal function was examined in nonhuman primates. METHODS: Monkeys were repeatedly exposed to phencyclidine (0.3 mg/kg) twice daily for 14 days. Acquisition and performance on an object-retrieval detour task was subsequently examined for up to 28 days after drug withdrawal. RESULTS: Animals treated with phencyclidine exhibited impaired acquisition of the task. The performance of trials requiring inhibitory control (as opposed to solely sensory-guided responding) was specifically impaired by prior phencyclidine administration. Impairments were found to be due to increased perseveration and barrier reaching. As is the case after frontal cortex ablation, the behavioral deficits were particularly evident during acquisition and appeared to be alleviated by prolonged training. CONCLUSIONS: The current data demonstrate that subchronic administration of phencyclidine can produce deficits in inhibitory response control that are manifest as impulsivity (increased control of behavior by unconditioned, appetitive stimuli). These data suggest that long-term phencyclidine exposure induces frontostriatal-like cognitive impairments and may represent a potential (drug induced) model for the study of prefrontal cortical cognitive and dopaminergic dysfunction.

Animals↗

Multifocal brain damage induced by phencyclidine is augmented by pilocarpine.

Phencyclidine and other antagonists of the N-methyl-D-aspartate subtype of glutamate receptor cause psychosis in humans. In low doses these agents induce a reversible neurotoxic reaction in the rat brain that is limited to the retrosplenial granular cortex. Some investigators have reported that phencyclidine at higher doses or by more prolonged treatment causes a more disseminated pattern of damage. However, it has not been clearly demonstrated whether the disseminated damage is reversible or irreversible and whether it is consistently reproducible, nor is it known how many and which neurons are at risk. In the present study we addressed these questions using several histological approaches (plastic-embedded thin sections for light microscopy and ultrathin plastic sections for electron microscopy, paraffin-embedded haematoxylin and eosin sections, 72 kDa heat shock protein immunocytochemistry and de Olmos silver impregnation) to study the lesions induced in rat brain by phencyclidine (alone or when augmented with pilocarpine). We found that phencyclidine can kill a relatively large number of neurons distributed over many cerebrocortical and limbic brain regions, but the multifocal pattern of damage occurred in only a small percentage of treated rats. The addition of a low dose of pilocarpine to phencyclidine caused the widespread pattern of damage to manifest on a much more consistent basis. Available evidence suggests that disinhibition of multiple converging excitatory pathways is the mechanism by which phencyclidine triggers widespread neuronal degeneration; however, the specific combination of excitatory inputs that contributes to the pathological process may differ from region to region.

Animals↗

Reduced prefrontal cortical dopamine, but not acetylcholine, release in vivo after repeated, intermittent phencyclidine administration to rats.

Subchronic administration of phencyclidine to rats or monkeys produces prefrontal cortical cognitive dysfunction, as well as reduced frontal cortical dopamine utilization. In the current study, the effects of subchronic exposure to phencyclidine on dopamine and acetylcholine release in the prefrontal cortex were assessed, using in vivo microdialysis in conscious rats. Subchronic exposure to phencyclidine (5 mg/kg twice daily for 7 days) reduced both basal extracellular concentrations of dopamine as well as the increase in dopamine release produced by an acute phencyclidine challenge. The increase in dopamine release induced by a high potassium concentration in the perfusate tended to be reduced after subchronic phencyclidine treatment, while basal and evoked acetylcholine release was unaffected. These data demonstrate that altered dopamine turnover in subjects after subchronic exposure to phencyclidine is directly reflective of reduced release, and as such, represents a functionally relevant phenomenon.

Acetylcholine↗

Differential regulation of chromogranin A, chromogranin B and secretogranin II in rat brain by phencyclidine treatment.

Chromogranin A, chromogranin B and secretogranin II belong to the chromogranin family which consists of large protein molecules that are found in large dense core vesicles. Chromogranins are endoproteolytically processed to smaller peptides. This study was designed to elucidate the regulation of chromgranin expression by acute and subchronic phencyclidine administration. The behavioral syndrome produced by phencyclidine represents a pharmacological model for some aspects of schizophrenia [Jentsch and Roth (1999) Neuropsychopharmacology 20, 201-225]. Tissue concentrations of chromogranins were measured with specific radioimmunoassays. Alterations in secretogranin II gene expression were investigated by in situ hybridization. A single dose of phencyclidine (10mg/kg) led to a transient decrease in secretoneurin tissue levels in the prefrontal cortex after 4h followed by an increase in secretoneurin tissue levels after 12h. Repeated phencyclidine treatment (10mg/kg/day) for five days resulted in elevated secretoneurin levels in cortical areas whereas chromogranin A and chromogranin B tissue levels were unchanged. After the same treatment, a significant increase in the number of secretoneurin containing neurons was found in cortical layers II-III, and V-VI as revealed by immunocytochemistry. The increases in secretoneurin levels were paralleled by an increased number of secretogranin II messenger RNA containing neurons as well as by an increased expression of secretogranin II by individual neurons. The present study shows that secretoneurin II tissue concentration and secretogranin II messenger RNA expression is distinctly altered after acute and subchronic phencyclidine application. From these results we suggest that phencyclidine may induce synaptic alterations in specific brain areas and may contribute to a better understanding of synaptic dysfunction which may also occur in schizophrenia.

Animals↗

Phencyclidine interferes with the hippocampal gating of nucleus accumbens neuronal activity in vivo.

The N-methyl-D-aspartate channel blocker phencyclidine is known to induce psychotic episodes in normal subjects and exacerbate psychosis in schizophrenics; however, its site of action is not clear. The prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and basal ganglia are brain regions that appear to play a role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, and therefore are the most likely to be involved in the psychotomimetic action of phencyclidine. In this study, systemic administration of phencyclidine reduced the frequency and duration of the spontaneously occurring depolarized plateaus observed in the membrane potential of accumbens neurons recorded intracellularly in vivo. Furthermore, recordings from rats pretreated with phencyclidine yielded proportionately fewer neurons showing depolarized events compared with untreated animals. These results suggest that phencyclidine may interfere with the generation of the depolarized ("up") state of the accumbens neuron membrane potential, which we had previously shown is dependent upon hippocampal input and is necessary for action potential discharge in these neurons. This action of phencyclidine is proposed to impair the flow of cortical information through the nucleus accumbens, and thereby mimic the consequences of the hippocampal deficit proposed to contribute to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.

Action Potentials↗

Altered frontal cortical dopaminergic transmission in monkeys after subchronic phencyclidine exposure: involvement in frontostriatal cognitive deficits.

Long-term exposure to the psychotomimetic drug phencyclidine produces prefrontal cortical cognitive and dopaminergic dysfunction in rats and monkeys, effects possibly relevant to the frontal cortical impairments of schizophrenia. In the present study, the effects of subchronic phencyclidine administration (0.3 mg/kg twice-daily for 14 days) on monoamine systems in the monkey brain were examined and related to cognitive performance on an object retrieval/detour task, which has been linked with frontostriatal function. Long-term (14 days) administration of phencyclidine resulted in a marked and persistent reduction in dopamine utilization in the frontal cortex. Moreover, the degree of cognitive impairment in phencyclidine-treated monkeys correlated significantly with the magnitude of dopaminergic inhibition within the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and prelimbic cortex. No specific correlation was measured for dopamine utilization in other cortical regions or for indices of serotonin transmission in any brain region. These data show that repeated exposure to phencyclidine reduces prefrontal cortical dopamine transmission, and this inhibition of dopaminergic function is associated with performance impairments on a task sensitive to frontostriatal cognitive dysfunction. Thus, the cognitive deficits of phencyclidine-treated monkeys, as in schizophrenia, appear to be mediated, in part, by reduced dopaminergic function in specific subregions of the frontal cortex.

Animals↗

Subchronic phencyclidine administration reduces mesoprefrontal dopamine utilization and impairs prefrontal cortical-dependent cognition in the rat.

Repeated ingestion of phencyclidine by humans induces enduring schizophrenic symptomatology, particularly cognitive dysfunction. In the presently described series of experiments, the neurochemical and cognitive consequences of subchronic phencyclidine administration in the rat were explored. Repeated phencyclidine exposure led to a selective reduction in basal and stress-evoked dopamine utilization in the prefrontal cortex. In addition, rats previously subchronically-treated with phencyclidine were impaired on performance of a spatial working memory task in a delay-dependent manner. Importantly, these dopaminergic and cognitive deficits were observed after withdrawal from phencyclidine, and as such, the neurochemical and behavioral effects were due to drug-induced neurobiological changes rather than direct drug effects. These biochemical and behavioral data show that repeated phencyclidine administration induces prefrontal cortical cognitive deficits in rats, as in humans, and offer a biochemical perspective of the neural substrate underlying this cognitive impairment: inhibition of mesocortical dopamine neurons. Thus, these data may have relevance to psychiatric disorders involving prefrontal cortical dopaminergic hypoactivity and cognitive dysfunction, as has been hypothesized in schizophrenia.

3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic Acid↗