Effects of dopaminergic and serotonergic compounds in rats trained to discriminate a high and a low training dose of the synthetic cathinone mephedrone.

Rationale: The underlying pharmacological mechanisms of mephedrone, especially as related to interactions with different neurotransmitter systems, are a critical area of study as mephedrone continues to be abused.

Objective: Direct-acting 5-HT receptor agonists and antagonists and D receptor antagonists were examined in two groups of rats trained to discriminate mephedrone. A high dose of mephedrone was trained to extend previous results with traditional monoamine transporter inhibitors and substrate releasers.