Development of tolerance and supersensitivity to phencyclidine in rats after repeated administration of phencyclidine.

Repeated administration of phencyclidine (PCP) to rats produced opposite effects on different behaviors: tolerance developed for back-pedalling, head-weaving, and turning, while sniffing, rearing, and ambulation became more sensitive (supersensitivity). Tests with specific drugs showed that serotonin-related behaviors weakened, whereas dopamine-related behaviors strengthened. PCP increased dopamine and serotonin levels in the nucleus accumbens and the HVA-to-dopamine ratio in the striatum. No changes occurred in sleep time or brain PCP clearance, indicating no effect on liver metabolism. The findings suggest that repeated PCP use alters dopamine and serotonin systems, with increased mesolimbic dopamine function likely underlying the supersensitivity.

Study at a glance

Abstract

In rats treated with phencyclidine (PCP) repeatedly (PCP 10 mg/kg per day for 14 days), the back-pedalling, head-weaving and turning induced by PCP were attenuated (tolerance), while PCP-induced sniffing, rearing and ambulation were potentiated (supersensitivity). The behavior induced by the direct and indirect serotonin (5-HT) agonists, 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine and p-chloroamphetamine, was attenuated, while the sniffing, rearing or licking induced by the direct and indirect dopamine (DA) agonists, apomorphine and methamphetamine, were potentiated in the chronic PCP-treated rats. The DA and 5-HT contents in the nucleus accumbens and the ratio of HVA to DA in the striatum increased following the repeated PCP administration. Pentobarbital-induced sleep time did not change in the chronic PCP-treated rats as compared with the control rats. In addition, there was no significant difference between the disappearance rate of PCP in the brain of the rats treated with PCP repeatedly and the rate in the control rats. These results suggest that functional changes in the dopaminergic and serotonergic neuronal systems develop on repeated administration of PCP but that such changes do not develop in the hepatic drug-metabolizing system. In addition, tolerance develops in the serotonergic neuronal system while supersensitivity develops in the dopaminergic neuronal system. Biochemical findings suggest that increased mesolimbic dopaminergic neuronal function plays an important role in the development of the supersensitivity.