DRUG DISCRIMINATION ANALYSIS OF PSEUDOEPHEDRINE IN RATS

Rats were trained to discriminate amphetamine, 1 mg/kg given intraperi toneally, from saline injection in a two-lever operant drug discrimina tion task. Pseudoephedrine (a sympathomimetic drug with central and pe ripheral actions) at doses of 10 mg/kg failed to substitute for amphet amine, at 20 mg/kg partial substitution occurred, while at a 40 mg/kg full substitution was seen. The specificity of the amphetamine cue at the training dose used (1 mg/kg) was shown by the finding that a perip herally acting sympathomimetic drug phenylephrine at doses from 0.2 to 0.8 mg/kg failed to substitute for amphetamine. The potential for abu se of pseudoephedrine administered at high doses is discussed. (C) 199 8 Elsevier Science Inc.