NCJ Number
196098
Journal
Drug and Alcohol Dependence Volume: 65 Issue: 3 Dated: February 1, 2002 Pages: 243-251
Date Published
2002
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This study investigated the effect of toluene inhalation on dopamine-sensitive transmission in two distinct brain areas.
Abstract
Toluene is the principal intoxicant in many of the products involved in “sniffing.” Little is known about the underlying cellular mechanisms of action through which these substances produce their effects in the central nervous system (CNS). Exposure to toluene may produce behaviors consistent with many other drugs of abuse. Toluene, like PCP, has a demonstrated abuse liability in humans. In view of the well-established role of dopamine (DA) in underlying the reinforcing effects of many abused drugs, early studies assessed changes in brain DA content and turnover following acute and chronic toluene exposure. In this study, DA levels were measured in prefrontal cortex (PFC) and nucleus accumbens (NACC) of freely moving rats using in vivo microdialysis. Inhalation of a behaviorally relevant concentration of toluene produced a significant increase in the PFC but not in the NACC. The odorant isoamyl acetate increased PFC DA levels by only 37 percent, significantly less than the 96 percent increase observed following toluene exposure. When toluene inhalation was combined with cocaine, the response to the combined challenge was not different from the response to toluene alone in the PFC. The combination of these two drugs produced a supradditive response of 802 percent in the NACC. This is compared with the 450 percent increase observed following cocaine alone. Toluene influences the function of several ionotropic receptors in a subunit specific manner. These results indicate regionally specific changes in dopamine-sensitive transmission following toluene exposure. 4 figures, 50 references