DoD-NCCAM/NIH workshop on acupuncture for treatment of acute pain.

The Department of Defense (DoD) and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) cosponsored a workshop that explored the possible benefits of acupuncture treatment for acute pain. One goal of the workshop was to establish a roadmap to building an evidence base on that would indicate whether acupuncture is helpful for treating active-duty military personnel experiencing acute pain. The workshop highlighted brief presentations on the most current research on acupuncture and acute pain mechanisms.

Strain differences in the acquisition of nicotine-induced conditioned taste aversion.

Lewis (LEW) and Fischer (F344) rat strains differ on a variety of physiological and behavioral endpoints, including reactivity to drugs of abuse. Although they differ in drug reactivity, such assessments are generally limited to morphine and cocaine. To determine if these differences generalize to other drugs, the present study examined these strains for their reactivity to the affective properties of nicotine, specifically their sensitivity to nicotine in the conditioned taste aversion preparation.

Effects of anorectic drugs on food intake under progressive-ratio and free-access conditions in rats.

The effects of two anorectic drugs, dexfenfluramine and phentermine, on food intake under different food-access conditions were examined. Experiment 1 compared the effects of these drugs on food intake under a progressive-ratio (PR) schedule and free-access conditions. Dexfenfluramine decreased food intake under both conditions, but the doses required to decrease intake under free-access conditions were higher than those required to reduce intake under the PR condition.

Differential effects of morphine and LiCl on schedule-induced polydipsia.

Lithium chloride (LiCl) and morphine both produce a conditioned taste avoidance response, while only LiCl is able to elicit a conditioned rejection response (taste reactivity), indicating that the effects of conditioning are drug and preparation dependent. The present experiments extend this assessment to another behavioral preparation, schedule-induced polydipsia (SIP), by examining the ability of LiCl and morphine to produce conditioned suppression of nonregulatory drinking. In Experiment 1, schedule-induced saccharin consumption was followed by LiCl or morphine (at doses comparably effective in conditioning taste avoidance under water deprivation) or by the distilled water vehicle.

Morphine- and cocaine-induced c-Fos levels in Lewis and Fischer rat strains.

Lewis (LEW) and Fischer 344 (F344) rat strains have been reported to differ in their sensitivity to the rewarding and aversive effects of both cocaine and morphine. Specifically, LEW rats self-administer morphine and cocaine to a greater extent than F344 rats, while LEW (compared to F344) rats are more sensitive to the aversive effects of cocaine but less sensitive to the aversive effects of morphine. Consistent with assessments of the rewarding effects of morphine and cocaine in these two strains, LEW rats have lower basal, and generally higher drug-induced, activity in brain regions associated with reward.

A new progressive ratio schedule for support of morphine self-administration in opiate dependent rats.

Rationale And Objectives: In preliminary studies, we observed that opiate dependent rats self-administered only a small number of morphine injections under a PR (progressive ratio) schedule developed to study psychostimulant self-administration. Therefore, a new schedule was developed to support morphine self-administration by incrementing response requirements in a relatively gradual manner. The present study compared morphine self-administration under a commonly used PR schedule to self-administration maintained by our modified PR schedule.

Strain-dependent differences in schedule-induced polydipsia: an assessment in Lewis and Fischer rats.

Strain-dependent differences have been used to highlight unknown genetic contributions to important behavioral and physiological end points. In this regard, the Fischer (F344) and Lewis (LEW) rat strains have often been studied because they exhibit a myriad of behavioral and physiological differences. Recently, schedule-induced polydipsia (SIP), a potential model of stress and drug abuse, has been reported to differ between the two strains (see [Pharmacol.

Effects of interleukin-1beta on food-maintained behavior in the mouse.

The present studies compared the effect of parenteral administration of the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) on food-seeking behavior under various conditions. IL-1beta (100 ng/mouse) decreased home cage consumption of sweetened milk to a greater extent in ad libitum fed mice than in mice that were food-restricted to maintain 85-90% of their free-feeding body weight. When operant responding for milk was maintained under a fixed-ratio 10 response (FR10) schedule of milk delivery, IL-1beta (30-300 ng/mouse) significantly decreased milk-maintained responding in mice fed ad libitum, but not in food-restricted mice.

Development of long-acting dopamine transporter ligands as potential cocaine-abuse therapeutic agents: chiral hydroxyl-containing derivatives of 1-[2-[bis(4-fluorophenyl)methoxy]ethyl]-4-(3-phenylpropyl)piperazine and 1-[2-(diphenylmethoxy)ethyl]-4-(3-phenylpropyl)piperazine.

In our search for long-acting agents for the treatment of cocaine abuse, a series of optically pure hydroxylated derivatives of 1-[2-[bis(4-fluorophenyl)methoxy]ethyl]-4-(3-phenylpropyl)piperazine (1) and 1-[2-(diphenylmethoxy)ethyl]-4-(3-phenylpropyl)piperazine (2) (GBR 12909 and GBR 12935, respectively) were synthesized and evaluated in vitro and in vivo. The enantiomers of the 2-hydroxylated analogues displayed substantial enantioselectivity. The S enantiomers displayed higher dopamine transporter (DAT) affinity and the R enantiomers were found to interact at the serotonin transporter (SERT) with higher affinity.