Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
December 16, 2021
Sophia Khom, Jacques D. Nguyen, Sophia A. Vandewater et al.
12 citations
Male rats escalate intravenous self-administration of entactogen psychostimulants, 3,4-methylenedioxymethcathinone (methylone) and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) under extended access conditions, as with typical psychostimulants. Here, we investigated whether female rats escalate self-administration of methylone, 3,4-methylenedioxypentedrone (pentylone), and MDMA and then studied...
bioRxiv Preprint Server
September 24, 2021
Sophia Khom, Jacques D. Nguyen, Sophia A. Vandewater et al.
preprint
Male rats escalate intravenous self-administration of entactogen psychostimulants, 3,4-methylenedioxymethcathinone (methylone) and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) under extended access conditions, as with typical psychostimulants. Here, we investigated whether female rats escalate self-administration of methylone, 3,4-methylenedioxypentedrone (pentylone), and MDMA and then studied...
British Journal of Pharmacology
2020
Jacques D. Nguyen, Kevin M Creehan, Tony M Kerr et al.
Adolescents are regularly exposed to ∆9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) via smoking and, more recently, vaping cannabis extracts. Growing legalization of cannabis for medical and recreational purposes, combined with decreasing perceptions of harm, makes it increasingly important to determine the consequences of frequent adolescent exposure for motivated behaviour and lasting tolerance in response...
Neuropharmacology
June 1, 2019
Jacques D. Nguyen, Yanabel Grant, Kevin M Creehan et al.
Growing nonmedical use of prescription opioids is a global problem, motivating research on ways to reduce use and combat addiction. Medical cannabis ("medical marijuana") legalization has been associated epidemiologically with reduced opioid harms and cannabinoids have been shown to modulate effects of opioids in animal models. This study was conducted to determine if Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
September 25, 2018
Jacques D. Nguyen, Kevin M Creehan, Tony M Kerr et al.
9 citations
preprint
Abstract Adolescents are regularly exposed to Δ 9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) via smoking, and, more recently, vaping, cannabis / extracts. Growing legalization of cannabis for medical and recreational purposes, combined with decreasing perceptions of harm, makes it increasingly important to determine the consequences of frequent adolescent exposure for motivated behavior and lasting tolerance...
Psychopharmacology
September 2018
Mehrak Javadi-Paydar, Jacques D. Nguyen, Tony M Kerr et al.
Previous studies report sex differences in some, but not all, responses to cannabinoids in rats. The majority of studies use parenteral injection; however, most human use is via smoke inhalation and, increasingly, vapor inhalation. To compare thermoregulatory and locomotor responses to inhaled ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), and their combination using an e-cigarette-based...
Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior
September 2018
Jacques D. Nguyen, Yanabel Grant, Tony M Kerr et al.
A reduced effect of a given dose of ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) emerges with repeated exposure to the drug. This tolerance can vary depending on THC dose, exposure chronicity and the behavioral or physiological measure of interest. A novel THC inhalation system based on e-cigarette technology has been recently shown to produce the hypothermic and antinociceptive effects of THC in rats. To...
Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry
July 13, 2018
Rahul R Dutta, Michael A. Taffe, Chitra D Mandyam
The detrimental effects of amphetamines on developmental stages of NPCs are limited to rodent brain and it is not known if these effects occur in nonhuman primates which are the focus of the current investigation. Young adult rhesus macaques either experienced MDMA only, a combination of amphetamines (MDMA, MDA and methamphetamine) or no amphetamines (controls) and hippocampal tissue was...
Neuropsychopharmacology
January 2018
Douglas L Boggs, Jacques D. Nguyen, Daralyn Morgenson et al.
The plant Cannabis sativa, commonly called cannabis or marijuana, has been used for its psychotropic and mind-altering side effects for millennia. There has been growing attention in recent years on its potential therapeutic efficacy as municipalities and legislative bodies in the United States, Canada, and other countries grapple with enacting policy to facilitate the use of cannabis or its...
Addiction Biology
September 2017
Jacques D. Nguyen, Yanabel Grant, Kevin M Creehan et al.
The recreational use of substituted cathinones continues to grow as a public health concern in the United States. Studies have shown that extended access to intravenous (i.v.) self-administration of stimulants, such as cocaine and methamphetamine, results in escalation of drug intake relative to shorter access; however, little is known about the impact of extended access on self-administration...
bioRxiv Preprint Server
July 21, 2017
Mehrak Javadi-Paydar, Jacques D. Nguyen, Sophia A. Vandewater et al.
7 citations
preprint
The broad diversity of synthetic cathinone psychostimulant drugs that are available to users complicates research efforts to provide understanding of health risks. Second generation cathinones pentedrone and pentylone are distinguished from each other by the 3,4-methylenedioxy structural motif (which distinguishes methamphetamine from 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) and each incorporates the...
Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences
2017
Shawn. M. Aarde, Michael A. Taffe
Animal models of drug self-administration are currently the gold standard for making predictions regarding the relative likelihood that a recreational drug substance will lead to continued use and addiction. Such models have been found to have high predictive accuracy and discriminative validity for a number of drug classes including ethanol, nicotine, opioids, and psychostimulants such as...
Neuropharmacology
December 2015
Sophia A. Vandewater, Kevin M Creehan, Michael A. Taffe
The intravenous self-administration (IVSA) of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is inconsistent in rats, with up to half of subjects failing to acquire reliable drug intake. It is unknown if this changes under long-access conditions (6 h sessions) under which the IVSA of cocaine and methamphetamine escalates. The entactogen class cathinone stimulants which exhibit MDMA-like monoamine...
Drug and Alcohol Dependence
June 1, 2015
Shawn. M. Aarde, Michelle L Miller, Kevin M Creehan et al.
Exercise influences drug craving and consumption in humans and drug self-administration in laboratory animals, but the effects can be variable. Improved understanding of how exercise affects drug intake or craving would enhance applications of exercise programs to human drug users attempting cessation. Rats were trained in the intravenous self-administration (IVSA) of D-methamphetamine (METH;...
Neuropharmacology
January 17, 2015
Kevin M Creehan, Sophia A. Vandewater, Michael A. Taffe
98 citations
Male rats will intravenously self-administer (IVSA) the substituted cathinone stimulants (“bath salts”) mephedrone (4-methylmethcathione) and methylone (3,4-methylenedioxymethcathinone) robustly, whereas the IVSA of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is inconsistent in many rat models. There are no data available on the self-administration of these drugs in female rats, thus a study was...
Neuroscience
April 3, 2013
M J Wright, Sophia A. Vandewater, L H Parsons et al.
Expansion of medical marijuana use in the US and the recently successful decriminalization of recreational marijuana in two States elevates interest in the specific cognitive effects of Δ(9)tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ(9)THC), the major psychoactive constituent of marijuana. Controlled laboratory studies in nonhuman primates provide mixed evidence for specific effects of Δ(9)THC in learning and...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
October 2012
Michael A. Taffe
Cannabis remains the most commonly abused illicit drug and is rapidly expanding in quasi-licit use in some jurisdictions under medical marijuana laws. Effects of the psychoactive constituent Δ⁹tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ⁹THC) on cognitive function remain of pressing concern. Prior studies in monkeys have not shown consistent evidence of memory-specific effects of Δ⁹THC on recognition tasks, and it...
Drug and Alcohol Dependence
June 3, 2012
Pai-Kai Huang, Shawn. M. Aarde, D. Angrish et al.
74 citations
BACKGROUND Reports from US, UK and European drug policy entities, and ongoing media accounts, show increasing recreational use of 4-methylmethcathinone (4-MMC, mephedrone) and 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV). Severe sympathomimetic symptoms, hallucinations, psychoses, and even deaths have been reported, yet little scientific information is available on the effects of these compounds in...
The FASEB Journal
April 1, 2012
Pai-Kai Huang, Shawn. M. Aarde, Tobin J. Dickerson et al.
A recent DEA report and ongoing media accounts show increasing recreational use of 4‐methylmethcathinone (4‐MMC, mephedrone) and 3,4‐methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV). Some severe sympathomimetic symptoms, hallucinations, psychoses, and even deaths have been reported. Recent studies showed that 4‐MMC and MDPV enhanced DA neurotransmission, while 4‐MMC also increased 5‐HT neurotransmission, much...
Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior
September 2011
N W Gilpin, M J Wright, G Dickinson et al.
Recreational ingestion of the drug 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, "Ecstasy") can result in pathologically elevated body temperature and even death in humans. Such incidents are relatively rare which makes it difficult to identify the relative contributions of specific environmental and situational factors. Although animal models have been used to explore several aspects of...
Neuroscience
October 13, 2006
R D Crean, S A Davis, S N Von Huben et al.
Severe and malignant hyperthermia is a frequently reported factor in emergency department (ED) visits and fatalities in which use of amphetamine drugs, such as (+/-)3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), (+/-)3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) and (+)methamphetamine (METH), is confirmed. Individuals who use "ecstasy" are also often exposed, intentionally or otherwise, to several of these...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
Shawn. M. Aarde, Pai-Kai Huang, Michael A. Taffe
1 citation
preprint
Abstract Rationale MDMA alters body temperature in rats with a direction that depends on the ambient temperature (T A ). The thermoregulatory effects of MDMA and T A may affect intravenous self-administration (IVSA) of MDMA but limited prior reports conflict. Objective To determine how body temperature responses under high and low T A influence MDMA IVSA. Methods Male Sprague-Dawley rats were...