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The discriminative stimulus properties of 2,5-dimethoxy-4-methylamphetamine (DOM): differentiation from amphetamine.

P B Silverman, B T Ho

Psychopharmacology 1980 DOI: 10.1007/bf00428105 (opens in new tab)

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Animal drug discrimination study Peer reviewed
Population Rats trained in a two-lever operant drug discrimination procedure
Interventions (+)Amphetamine DOM mescaline 2 5-dimethoxy-4-ethylamphetamine (DOET) methylphenidate cinanserin methysergide xylamidine haloperidol
Dose 1.0 mg/kg (+)amphetamine or 1.5 mg/kg DOM
Key points Amphetamine and DOM produce pharmacologically distinct discriminative stimuli in rats. DOM's cue generalized to mescaline and DOET and was blocked by serotonin antagonists, whereas amphetamine's cue generalized to methylphenidate and was blocked by haloperidol, with no cross-generalization between the two training drugs.

Abstract

Rats were trained in a two-lever operant procedure to discriminate either 1.0 mg/kg (+)amphetamine or 1.5 mg/kg DOM from saline. Rats trained to discriminate DOM from saline showed generalization with the DOM training condition when tested with mescaline or 2,5-dimethoxy-4-ethylamphetamine (DOET), but not when tested with (+)amphetamine or methylphenidate. Both isomers of DOM generalized with racemic training compound, the (-)isomer being more potent. The DOM stimulus was completely blocked by the serotonin (5-HT) antagonists cinanserin and methysergide, but not by the peripheral 5-HT antagonist xylamidine nor the dopamine antagonist haloperidol. Rats trained to discriminate (+)amphetamine from saline generalized with the amphetamine training condition when tested with methylphenidate but not when tested with mescaline, DOET, racemic DOM, or either isomer of DOM. The amphetamine stimulus was blocked by pretreatment with haloperidol but not by cinanserin, methysergide, or xylamidine. The results show that, despite their structural similarity, amphetamine and DOM induce pharmacologically distinct stimuli.