Se. Robinson et al., EFFECTS OF COCAINE AND THE COCAINE ANALOG CFT ON GLUTAMATERGIC NEURONS, Pharmacology, biochemistry and behavior, 50(4), 1995, pp. 627-633
The effects of cocaine and the cocaine analog methyl-3 beta-(p-fluorop
henyl)-1 alpha H,5 alpha H-tropane-2b-carbvoxylate (CFT) on glutamate
turnover rate were studied in the nucleus accumbens, striatum, frontal
cortex, and parietal-cingulate cortex of the rat, using neurotransmit
ter turnover rate as an estimate of the activity of the glutamatergic
neurons. Both cocaine [15 or 30 mg/kg, intraperitoneally (IP)] and CFT
(2.2 mg/kg, IP) increased glutamate turnover in the nucleus accumbens
, although the time course of their actions differed. These effects on
glutamate turnover appeared at times after maximal motor activation o
f the animals had occurred. On the other hand, neither cocaine nor CFT
affected glutamate turnover in the frontal cortex, parietal-cingulate
cortex, or striatum. Neither cocaine nor CFT affected the content of
glutamate or glucose in any brain region studied. Thus, although cocai
ne and CFT affect glutamatergic neurons in the CNS, these actions are
not generalized across the CNS, but are restricted to a specific brain
region.