Vulnerability factors for mephedrone-induced conditioned place preference in rats-the impact of sex differences, social-conditioning and stress.

Rationale: Mephedrone is a frequently overused drug of abuse that belongs to the group of novel psychoactive substances. Although its mechanism of action, as well as toxic and psychoactive effects, has been widely studied, the role of different factors that could contribute to the increased vulnerability to mephedrone abuse is still poorly understood.

Objectives: The aim of the presented study was to assess the impact of several factors (sex differences, social-conditioning, and chronic mild unpredictable stress - CMUS) on the liability to mephedrone-induced reward in Wistar rats.

Insight into Glutamatergic Involvement in Rewarding Effects of Mephedrone in Rats: In Vivo and Ex Vivo Study.

Mephedrone is a widely used drug of abuse, exerting its effects by interacting with monoamine transporters. Although this mechanism has been widely studied heretofore, little is known about the involvement of glutamatergic transmission in mephedrone effects. In this study, we comprehensively evaluated glutamatergic involvement in rewarding effects of mephedrone using an interdisciplinary approach including (1) behavioural study on effects of memantine (non-selective NMDA antagonist) on expression of mephedrone-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) in rats; (2) evaluation of glutamate concentrations in the hippocampus of rats following 6 days of mephedrone administration, using in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS); and (3) determination of glutamate levels in the hippocampus of rats treated with mephedrone and subjected to MRS, using ion-exchange chromatography.

Zebrafish and mouse models for anxiety evaluation - A comparative study with xanthotoxin as a model compound.

The ever-present trend for introducing new drugs of natural origin with anxiolytic properties meets healthcare needs of the population, whose almost 34 % struggles with anxiety-related disorders. At the same time, animal assays that could serve as fast and reliable models of anxiety-like behaviors are of great interest to scientists. Thus, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the utility of the zebrafish model for assessing the influence of natural compounds on anxiety in comparison with the well-known mouse model.