Nicotine-induced enhancement of a sensory reinforcer in adult rats: antagonist pretreatment effects.

Rationale And Objectives: The reinforcement-enhancing effect (REE) of nicotine refers to the drug's ability to enhance the strength of other primary and conditioned reinforcers. The main aim was to investigate neuropharmacological mechanisms underlying nicotine's strengthening of a primary visual reinforcer (i.e.

Enhancement of a visual reinforcer by D-amphetamine and nicotine in adult rats: relation to habituation and food restriction.

Rationale And Objectives: Nicotine and D-amphetamine can strengthen reinforcing effects of unconditioned visual stimuli. We investigated whether these reinforcement-enhancing effects reflect a slowing of stimulus habituation and depend on food restriction.

Methods: Adult male rats pressed an active lever to illuminate a cue light during daily 60-min sessions.

MDMA, Methylone, and MDPV: Drug-Induced Brain Hyperthermia and Its Modulation by Activity State and Environment.

Psychomotor stimulants are frequently used by humans to intensify the subjective experience of different types of social interactions. Since psychomotor stimulants enhance metabolism and increase body temperatures, their use under conditions of physiological activation and in warm humid environments could result in pathological hyperthermia, a life-threatening symptom of acute drug intoxication. Here, we will describe the brain hyperthermic effects of MDMA, MDPV, and methylone, three structurally related recreational drugs commonly used by young adults during raves and other forms of social gatherings.

Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) mimics cocaine in its physiological and behavioral effects but induces distinct changes in NAc glucose.

Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) is generally considered to be a more potent cocaine-like psychostimulant, as it shares a similar pharmacological profile with cocaine and induces similar physiological and locomotor responses. Recently, we showed that intravenous cocaine induces rapid rise in nucleus accumbens (NAc) glucose and established its relation to neural activation triggered by the peripheral drug actions. This study was conducted to find out whether MDPV, at a behaviorally equivalent dose, shares a similar pattern of NAc glucose dynamics.

Clinically Relevant Pharmacological Strategies That Reverse MDMA-Induced Brain Hyperthermia Potentiated by Social Interaction.

MDMA-induced hyperthermia is highly variable, unpredictable, and greatly potentiated by the social and environmental conditions of recreational drug use. Current strategies to treat pathological MDMA-induced hyperthermia in humans are palliative and marginally effective, and there are no specific pharmacological treatments to counteract this potentially life-threatening condition. Here, we tested the efficacy of mixed adrenoceptor blockers carvedilol and labetalol, and the atypical antipsychotic clozapine, in reversing MDMA-induced brain and body hyperthermia.

Clubbing with ecstasy.

In this issue, Parrot and Young present the results of temperature measurements in young individuals "partying" with 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or Ecstasy). This editorial commentary briefly summarizes the main findings of their study, provides background gained from previous animal experiments, and reviews the implications for the development of future pharmacotherapies and harm reduction strategies.

Effect of the Bacillus atrophaeus subsp. globigii Spo0F H101R mutation on strain fitness.

Sporulation is a critical developmental process in Bacillus spp. that, once initiated, removes the possibility of further growth until germination. Therefore, the threshold conditions triggering sporulation are likely to be subject to evolutionary constraint.