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Lobeline produces conditioned taste avoidance in rats.

Author
Abstract
:

Previous results indicate that pretreatment with lobeline attenuates methamphetamine (METH) self-administration in rats, but not by acting as a substitute reinforcer. Given these findings, it has been suggested that lobeline may serve as a useful pharmacotherapy for psychostimulant abuse. However, because lobeline produces emesis and nausea in humans, the present study examined whether lobeline has direct effects on taste avoidance behavior in rats within the same dose range shown previously to decrease METH self-administration. Two experiments utilized a Pavlovian conditioning procedure to determine if lobeline produces conditioned taste avoidance (CTA) in rats. In Experiments 1 and 2, rats consumed either novel milk or salt solutions, respectively, and within 10 min, were injected with lobeline (0.3-3.0 mg/kg) or METH (0.3-3.0 mg/kg). A single-bottle test conducted 48 h after flavor-drug pairings indicated that the dose of lobeline that reduced METH self-administration in a previous study (i.e., 3.0 mg/kg) also produced reliable CTA for milk and salt solution. These findings suggest a need to develop lobeline analogs that reduce METH self-administration, but do not produce CTA following the consumption of a novel solution.

Year of Publication
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2004
Journal
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Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior
Volume
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78
Issue
:
1
Number of Pages
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1-5
ISSN Number
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0091-3057
URL
:
https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0091305704000292
DOI
:
10.1016/j.pbb.2004.01.011
Short Title
:
Pharmacol Biochem Behav
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