Biomaterial Database

Discriminative stimulus effects of nicotine and chronic tolerance. 1997

M Shoaib, and E Thorndike, and C W Schindler, and S R Goldberg

Preclinical Pharmacology Laboratory, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore MD 21224, USA.

Tolerance to discriminative stimulus (DS) effects of drugs, as observed by a shift of the dose-response curve to the right, has been observed with many addictive drugs (e.g. amphetamine, cocaine and morphine). Chronic administration of nicotine has been reported to produce tolerance to the locomotor depressant effects and aversive stimulus properties of nicotine; however, the DS effects of nicotine have not been examined for development of tolerance following chronic treatment. We report on experiments utilising a cumulative-dosing drug discrimination paradigm. Eight, male Sprague-Dawley rats were trained to discriminate nicotine (0.4 mg/kg s.c.) from saline under a fixed ratio (FR 10) schedule for food reinforcement. Multiple training sessions were given daily, and once criteria was met, cumulative doses of nicotine (0.025-1.2 mg/kg s.c.) were evaluated. Rats acquired the nicotine discrimination after 80 sessions. During this period, rats developed tolerance to the rate-depressing effects of nicotine after 20 nicotine-training sessions. Chronic treatments of nicotine in the rat's home cage for 7 days during suspended training failed to shift the dose-response curve for nicotine. Increasing the frequency to three daily injections also had no effect on nicotine discrimination. Furthermore, continuous infusions of nicotine (6.4 mg/kg/day) delivered via osmotic minipumps failed to shift the dose-response curve. No physical signs of withdrawal were apparent, particularly on lever responding, following removal of the minipump. These results suggest that under the conditions described, chronic tolerance to nicotine's DS does not develop readily.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007263	Infusions, Parenteral	The administration of liquid medication, nutrient, or other fluid through some other route than the alimentary canal, usually over minutes or hours, either by gravity flow or often by infusion pumping.	Intra-Abdominal Infusions,Intraperitoneal Infusions,Parenteral Infusions,Peritoneal Infusions,Infusion, Intra-Abdominal,Infusion, Intraperitoneal,Infusion, Parenteral,Infusion, Peritoneal,Infusions, Intra-Abdominal,Infusions, Intraperitoneal,Infusions, Peritoneal,Intra Abdominal Infusions,Intra-Abdominal Infusion,Intraperitoneal Infusion,Parenteral Infusion,Peritoneal Infusion
D008297	Male		Males
D009538	Nicotine	Nicotine is highly toxic alkaloid. It is the prototypical agonist at nicotinic cholinergic receptors where it dramatically stimulates neurons and ultimately blocks synaptic transmission. Nicotine is also important medically because of its presence in tobacco smoke.	Nicotine Bitartrate,Nicotine Tartrate
D004193	Discrimination Learning	Learning that is manifested in the ability to respond differentially to various stimuli.	Discriminative Learning,Discrimination Learnings,Discriminative Learnings,Learning, Discrimination,Learning, Discriminative
D004305	Dose-Response Relationship, Drug	The relationship between the dose of an administered drug and the response of the organism to the drug.	Dose Response Relationship, Drug,Dose-Response Relationships, Drug,Drug Dose-Response Relationship,Drug Dose-Response Relationships,Relationship, Drug Dose-Response,Relationships, Drug Dose-Response
D004361	Drug Tolerance	Progressive diminution of the susceptibility of a human or animal to the effects of a drug, resulting from its continued administration. It should be differentiated from DRUG RESISTANCE wherein an organism, disease, or tissue fails to respond to the intended effectiveness of a chemical or drug. It should also be differentiated from MAXIMUM TOLERATED DOSE and NO-OBSERVED-ADVERSE-EFFECT LEVEL.	Drug Tolerances,Tolerance, Drug,Tolerances, Drug
D000279	Administration, Cutaneous	The application of suitable drug dosage forms to the skin for either local or systemic effects.	Cutaneous Drug Administration,Dermal Drug Administration,Drug Administration, Dermal,Percutaneous Administration,Skin Drug Administration,Transcutaneous Administration,Transdermal Administration,Administration, Dermal,Administration, Transcutaneous,Administration, Transdermal,Cutaneous Administration,Cutaneous Administration, Drug,Dermal Administration,Drug Administration, Cutaneous,Skin Administration, Drug,Administration, Cutaneous Drug,Administration, Dermal Drug,Administration, Percutaneous,Administrations, Cutaneous,Administrations, Cutaneous Drug,Administrations, Dermal,Administrations, Dermal Drug,Administrations, Percutaneous,Administrations, Transcutaneous,Administrations, Transdermal,Cutaneous Administrations,Cutaneous Administrations, Drug,Cutaneous Drug Administrations,Dermal Administrations,Dermal Drug Administrations,Drug Administrations, Cutaneous,Drug Administrations, Dermal,Drug Skin Administrations,Percutaneous Administrations,Skin Administrations, Drug,Skin Drug Administrations,Transcutaneous Administrations,Transdermal Administrations
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D017207	Rats, Sprague-Dawley	A strain of albino rat used widely for experimental purposes because of its calmness and ease of handling. It was developed by the Sprague-Dawley Animal Company.	Holtzman Rat,Rats, Holtzman,Sprague-Dawley Rat,Rats, Sprague Dawley,Holtzman Rats,Rat, Holtzman,Rat, Sprague-Dawley,Sprague Dawley Rat,Sprague Dawley Rats,Sprague-Dawley Rats
D051381	Rats	The common name for the genus Rattus.	Rattus,Rats, Laboratory,Rats, Norway,Rattus norvegicus,Laboratory Rat,Laboratory Rats,Norway Rat,Norway Rats,Rat,Rat, Laboratory,Rat, Norway,norvegicus, Rattus