A large body of evidence supports the hypothesis that mesolimbic dopamine (DA) mediates, in animal models, the reinforcing effects of central nervous system stimulants such as cocaine and amphetamine. The role DA plays in mediating amphetamine-type subjective effects of stimulants in humans remains to be established. Both amphetamine and cocaine increase norepinephrine (NE) via stimulation of r...

Repeated amphetamine administration is known to produce changes in corticoaccumbens function that persist beyond termination of drug administration. We have found previously that long-term alteration in dopamine systems leads to changes in gap junction communication, expressed as dye coupling, between striatal neurons. In this study, the cellular bases of amphetamine-induced changes were examin...

The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the effect of N-monomethylation of phenylisopropylamine derivatives on amphetamine-like activity. In tests of stimulus generalization using rats trained to discriminate 1.0 mg/kg of (+)-amphetamine from saline, the N-monomethyl derivatives of 1-(X-phenyl)-2-aminopropane, where X = 2,4-dimethoxy (2,4-DMA), 3,4-dimethoxy (3,4-DMA), 2,4,5-tri...

Animal studies have shown that nicotine and psychostimulant drugs (amphetamine and cocaine) share the property of inducing long-lasting behavioral and neurochemical sensitization, which is thought to contribute to their addictive properties. Neuroplasticity subserving learning and memory mechanisms is considered to be involved in psychostimulant-induced sensitization and addiction behavior. Bec...

Locomotor activity induced by d-amphetamine was found to be potentiated by food deprivation, a tryptophan-free diet, p-chlorophenylalanine and drugs proposed to antagonize serotonin receptors in brain. Administration of L-tryptophan 1 hour prior to d-amphetamine injection was found to antagonize the enhanced response to d-amphetamine in starved rats and in rats which had tryptophan removed from...

Drug abuse is associated with brain dysfunction and neurodegeneration, and various recreational drugs induce apoptotic cell death. This study examined the role of the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway in psychostimulant-induced neuronal dysfunction. Using primary neuronal cultures, we observed that amphetamine (IC50=1.40 mM) was more potent than cocaine (IC50=4.30 mM) in inducing cell toxicity. A...

Repeated treatment with psychostimulant drugs causes long-lasting behavioral sensitization and associated neuroadaptations. Although sensitization induced by a single psychostimulant exposure has also been reported, information on the behavioral and neurochemical consequences of a single psychostimulant exposure is sparse. Therefore, to evaluate whether behavioral sensitization evoked by single...

BACKGROUND Chronic amphetamine treatment decreases cocaine consumption in preclinical and human laboratory studies and in clinical trials. Lisdexamfetamine is an amphetamine prodrug in which L-lysine is conjugated to the terminal nitrogen of d-amphetamine. Prodrugs may be advantageous relative to their active metabolites due to slower onsets and longer durations of action; however, lisdexamfeta...