Abstract
In a conditioned taste-aversion experiment with male Wistar rats (two-bottle test, single pairing), the effects of β-phenylethylamine (PEA 12.5, 25.0, 50.0, 100.0 mg/kg IP) and of d-amphetamine (2.5 mg/kg IP) were compared with the effect of the saline vehicle. The amphetamine-treated group exhibited a marked aversion to saccharin on each of four retention trials. A decrease in saccharin intake after PEA was limited to the highest dose group (100 mg/kg) and the first retention trial for that group. Doses of up to 50 mg/kg of PEA were also ineffective with a single-bottle conditioned taste-aversion procedure involving multiple conditioning trials, although doses of 25 and 50 mg/kg of PEA induced marked changes in spontaneous motor activity. These data demonstrate that behaviourally active doses of PEA are ineffective in inducing a conditioned taste aversion to saccharin. This result extends previous reports that structurally similar compounds may have different potencies in this paradigm. It is proposed that further studies of structureactivity relationships may help to reveal the features of drug action that are necessary for the induction of a conditioned taste aversion.
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Greenshaw, A.J., Dourish, C.T. Differential aversive stimulus properties of β-phenylethylamine and of d-amphetamine. Psychopharmacology 82, 189–193 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00427771
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00427771