Rationale: It has previously been demonstrated that the 5-HT₃ receptors located in the mesolimbic brain areas are able to modulate the dopaminergic effects of various abused drugs, including cocaine (COC).Objectives: The present experiments investigated the role of 5-HT₃ receptors in the actions of selected monoamine uptake inhibitors.Methods: The ability of the 5-HT₃ receptor antagonist MDL 72222 (MDL; 0.1 and 1.0 mg/kg) to modify the neurochemical and behavioral changes induced by COC (20 mg/kg), mazindol (MAZ; 10 mg/kg), and methylphenidate (MP; 5.0 or 10, and 20 mg/kg) was assessed with an in vivo microdialysis technique, a conditioned place preference method, and motor activity measurements.Results: MDL robustly attenuated the elevation of extracellular dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens, acquisition of place preference, and motor activity induced by COC and MAZ, but not those induced by MP, the only drug with no significant effect on 5-HT. In contrast, expression of COC-induced place preference was not attenuated by MDL.Conclusions:These results show that COC- and MAZ-induced reward-related neurochemical and behavioral effects, preferentially those implicated in development of conditioned reward, are modified by the 5-HT₃ blockade. In contrast to COC and MAZ, the changes induced by MP, which has less effect on the serotonergic system, remain unchanged. Thus it appears that involvement of a serotonergic component in the mechanism of action of a drug could be a prerequisite for effective antagonism by 5-HT₃ receptor blockers.

Authors and Affiliations

1. Department of Mental Health and Alcohol Research, Drug Research Unit, National Public Health Institute, Mannerheimintie 166, 00300 Helsinki, Finland, , , , ,

   Aino Kankaanpää, Esa Meririnne & Timo Seppälä

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