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Nicotine as a discriminative cue in rats: Inability of related drugs to produce a nicotine-like cueing effect

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Abstract

Rats were trained to enter one arm of a T-maze after the subcutaneous administration of 0.4 mg/kg and to enter the opposite arm following the injection of an equal volume of saline. Administration of 0.4 mg/kg nicotine isomethonium iodide hydroiodide, 0.4–10.0 mg/kg lobeline sulfate, 2.0 and 4.0 mg/kg d-amphetamine sulfate and 0.25–2.0 mg/kg arecoline hydrobromide produced responses which resembled the established saline effect. Pretreatment with 10.0 mg/kg lobeline had no significant effect on the nicotine-cued response. The inability of these structurally and/or functionally similar drugs to produce a nicotine-like discriminative effect is discussed.

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Supported by a research grant from the A.M.A. Education and Research Foundation. M.D.S. was supported by an A.M.E.R.F. Postdoctoral Fellowship.

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Schechter, M.D., Rosecrans, J.A. Nicotine as a discriminative cue in rats: Inability of related drugs to produce a nicotine-like cueing effect. Psychopharmacologia 27, 379–387 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00429392

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00429392

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