Psychostimulant-induced changes in locomotion involve activation of the 1B subtype of the a 1 -adrenoceptor (a 1B-AR). A key gap in our knowledge base is the functional characterization of the a 1A-AR subtype for the behavioral actions of cocaine and other psychostimulants. This R21 application seeks to characterize the involvement of brain alpha1 -AR subtypes in the behavioral actions of cocaine and amphetamine in rats using a novel apparatus/procedure to concurrently assess feeding and locomotion. Adult male rats will receive systemic injections of cocaine hydrochloride (0, 2.5, 5.0,10.0, and 20.0 mg/kg, IP) or D-amphetamine sulfate (0, 0.25, 0.5,1.0, and 2.0 mg/kg, IP) five minutes after bilateral ICV injections (0, 3 or 30 nMol/rat) of either an alpha1A antagonist [5-methyl-urapadil] or an alpha1B antagonist [L-765,314].
Aim 1 will characterize the effects of systemic cocaine (Exp 1) or amphetamine (Exp 2) on eating and locomotion in rats pretreated (ICV) with either vehicle, 5-methyl-urapadil or L-765,314. Activation of alpha1-ARs within the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) evokes hypophagia.
Aim 2 will characterize the role(s) of PVN alpha1-AR subtypes in cocaine-induced changes in feeding and locomotion. Dose-effect curves for changes in hypophagia and locomotion will be compared in rats receiving bilateral intra-PVN infusions of vehicle or 5-methyl-urapadil or L-765,314 (1 or 3 nMol/rat) followed by systemic doses of either cocaine (Exp 3), amphetamine (Exp 4). Insofar as dopamine neurons within the mesolimbic system modulate locomotion and are modulated by .1-ARs, the focus of Aim 3 is to characterize the differential involvement of alpha1 -AR subtypes within the core and shell regions of the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) for the hypophagic and locomotor actions of psychostimulants. In Experiments 5 and 6, systemic injections of cocaine or amphetamine will be preceded by bilateral injections of vehicle or of 5-methyl-urapadil or L-765,314 (1 or 3 nMol/rat) into one of three NAcc regions (rostral shell, caudal shell or core). These studies will advance our understanding of the behavioral functions of brain a l-AR subtypes and may lead to the identification of new drugs that inhibit eating without activating brain reinforcement systems.
