Effect of varenicline on the acute and repeated locomotor responses to nicotine in rats.

Synapse

Laboratory of Drug Addiction Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Pharmacology, Polish Academy of Sciences, 31-343 Kraków, Poland.

Published: December 2008

The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of varenicline, a novel partial agonist at alpha 4 beta 2 and full agonist at alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) subtypes, in blocking the locomotor effects of acute or repeated treatments with nicotine (0.4 mg/kg, s.c.) in rats. Varenicline (0.3-3 mg/kg, s.c.) by itself enhanced the basal locomotor activity in naive rats while it had an inhibitory effect on acute nicotine-induced hyperlocomotion. Varenicline (0.3-3 mg/kg) did not change the nicotine-evoked conditioned locomotion, but when administered to nicotine-sensitized rats (0.1 and 1 mg/kg), reduced the expression of nicotine sensitization. In another set of experiments, varenicline (1 mg/kg) administered during the second withdrawal period (days 11-14) to nicotine-treated rats, attenuated the reestablishment of the expression of nicotine sensitization. Our pharmacological analyses further support the hypothesis that varenicline might be a useful treatment for smoking cessation considering its actions on the locomotor and reinforcing effects of nicotine without inhibition of conditioned locomotion.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/syn.20564DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

acute repeated
8
agonist alpha
8
varenicline 03-3
8
03-3 mg/kg
8
conditioned locomotion
8
expression nicotine
8
nicotine sensitization
8
varenicline
6
nicotine
5
rats
5

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!