Authors: David H Malin J Ronald Lake Tanya D Smith Habil N Khambati Rhonda L MeyersPaal Ana L Montellano Ryan E Jennings Daniel S Erwin Stacey E Presley Barbara A Perales
Publish Date: 2005/09/15
Volume: 184, Issue: 3-4, Pages: 494-503
Abstract
Experiments determined whether the abstinencealleviating effects of bupropion were detectable by 1 behavioral abstinence signs precipitated by the nicotinic antagonist mecamylamine 2 place aversion conditioned to mecamylamineprecipitated nicotine abstinence and 3 spontaneous behavioral abstinence signs after abrupt nicotine withdrawalIn experiments 1 and 2 nicotinedependent rats were coinfused for 7 days with 315 mg/kg/day nicotine and 20 mg/kg/day bupropion or with nicotine alone They were then challenged with 1 mg/kg mecamylamine and observed for behavioral abstinence signs experiment 1 or place aversion conditioned to precipitated abstinence experiment 2 In experiment 3 rats were nicotineinfused for 7 days as above A day after termination of nicotine infusion rats were observed for spontaneous nicotine abstinence signs before and after injection with saline or bupropionIn experiment 1 rats coinfused with nicotine and bupropion had significantly fewer mecamylamineprecipitated abstinence signs than rats infused with nicotine alone but similar numbers to rats infused with saline alone In experiment 2 bupropion pretreatment significantly reduced the aversiveness of mecamylamineprecipitated nicotine abstinence In experiment 3 a single bupropion injection dosedependently alleviated spontaneous nicotine abstinence syndromeThese results suggest that these rat models of nicotine dependence and abstinence syndrome may be useful in detecting nicotine abstinencealleviating effects of potential medications for smoking cessation The effects of acute bupropion administration raise interesting questions regarding bupropions mechanism of action
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