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Effects of Fluoxetine on the Acquisition of Methamphetamine Self‐Administration in Rats
Author(s) -
Lambert Chase Steven,
Goeders Nicholas,
Guerin Glenn
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.23.1_supplement.588.12
Subject(s) - methamphetamine , fluoxetine , serotonin , pharmacology , dopamine , neurotransmitter , reuptake inhibitor , psychology , reuptake , drug , medicine , psychiatry , neuroscience , central nervous system , receptor
Fluoxetine is a SSRI commonly used to treat depression. Like other SSRIs, it blocks the reuptake of serotonin, a neurotransmitter involved in mood regulation, at the neuronal synapse. Methamphetamine users experience a "high" due in part to the release of excess serotonin in the brain. Therefore, it can be assumed that some of the same neurological pathways that cause the excess release of serotonin due to fluoxetine are also involved in dopamine release due to methamphetamine. So, what would happen if someone that had taken or was currently taking fluoxetine tried methamphetamine? Would they be more or less sensitive to the drug and its effects? More importantly, would they need the same does of methamphetamine to achieve the same "high?" Would it take a weaker dose, meaning that they were more sensitive to the drug's effects? Or would they require a stronger dose, meaning either that they were developing a tolerance to the drug, or that its effects were less reinforcing? Are people suffering from depression and other psychological disorders at a greater risk for methamphetamine abuse? In order to further examine this possible risk, groups of Wistar rats were used and subjected to varying pre‐treatments and continued treatments of vehicle, fluoxetine, and methamphetamine throughout the course of the experiment.