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Abstract

Synthetic cathinones, a class of designer drugs commonly sold as bath salts, have emerged in recent years as popular legal high alternatives to illicit drugs such as cocaine, methamphetamine, and MDMA (ecstasy). Despite widespread abuse, their potential for compulsive use has not been scientifically established. The present studies sought to assess the addiction potential of methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) and methylone, two common bath salts drugs. In Experiment 1, three groups of rats (0.05, 0.1, and 0.2 mg/kg/infusionMDPV) successfully discriminated between active vs. inactive levers by day 5 often 2 hr/day (short access, ShA) intravenous self-administration (IVSA) sessions. Rats also displayed significant dose-dependent effects of reinforcer efficacy during progressive ratio (PR) testing, and showed escalated intake across ten 6 hr/day (long access, LgA) IVSA sessions. In Experiment 2, rats placed into a discrete-trials current threshold ICSS procedures displayed significant reductions in ICSS thresholds following MDPV treatment (vehicle, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 mg/kg i.p.). In Experiment 3, three groups of rats (0.05, 0.1, and 0.2 mg/kg/infusionmethylone) displayed discrimination between active vs. inactive levers by day 8 of tenShA daily IVSA sessions. However, PR testing did not reveal significant dose-effects and LgA did not lead to escalated intake across sessions. These experiments revealed that both MDPV and methylone function as reinforcers. However, only MDPV revealed patterns of escalated intake predictive of compulsive use humans. These findings have significant implications for researchers, treatment specialists, and policy makers regarding synthetic cathinone abuse and addiction

Biography

Lucas Watterson completed his Masters degree in psychology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Behavioral Neuroscience area of the graduate program in the Department of Psychology at Arizona State University