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Discriminative stimulus effects of S(−)–methcathinone (CAT): a potent stimulant drug of abuse

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Methcathinone (“CAT”) is a CNS stimulant that is a very significant drug of abuse in the former Soviet Union. It has also appeared on the clandestine market in the United States and has been recently classified as a Schedule I substance. In the present study, S(−)-methcathinone [S(−)-CAT, 0.50 mg/kg, IP] was employed as the training drug in a two-lever drug discrimination task in rats. Once established, the S(−)-CAT stimulus was shown to have a rapid onset to action (within 5 min) and a duration of effect of approximately 60–90 min. In tests of stimulus generalization (substitution), the S(−)-CAT (ED50 = 0.11 mg/kg) stimulus generalized to S(+)-methamphetamine (ED50 = 0.17 mg/kg), S(−)-cathinone (ED50 =  0.19 mg/kg), S(+)-amphetamine (ED50 = 0.23 mg/kg), aminorex (ED50 = 0.27 mg/kg), (±)-CAT (ED50 = 0.25 mg/kg), (±)-cathinone (ED50 = 0.41 mg/kg), R(+)-CAT (ED50 = 0.43 mg/kg), cis-4-methylaminorex (ED50 = 0.49 mg/kg), methylphenidate (ED50 = 0.83 mg/kg), and cocaine (ED50 = 1.47 mg/kg). S(−)-CAT-stimulus generalization did not occur to fenfluramine, a structurally related nonstimulant anorectic. Lastly, haloperidol (AD50 = 0.18 mg/kg), a dopamine receptor antagonist, potently antagonized the S(−)-CAT stimulus. It is concluded that S(−)-methcathinone is a very potent CNS stimulant, which appears to produce its stimulus effect, at least in part, via a dopaminergic mechanism.

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Received: 4 August 1997/Final version: 27 March 1998

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Young, R., Glennon, R. Discriminative stimulus effects of S(−)–methcathinone (CAT): a potent stimulant drug of abuse. Psychopharmacology 140, 250–256 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s002130050765

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s002130050765

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