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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...