Background
Methylphenidate (MPH), the most commonly prescribed medication for childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD), shares chemical and mechanistic similarities to cocaine which has
stimulated research to address the addiction liability following treatment.
Methods
Utilizing locomotor sensitization we examined the consequences of recurrent MPH versus
cocaine treatment during preadolescence in altering cocaine-induced locomotor behavior
in adolescent and adult mice. Black Swiss Webster mice were treated with MPH, cocaine,
or saline during preadolescence. To test whether MPH pretreatment during preadolescence
contributed to an altered sensitivity to cocaine during adolescence, these mice were
treated with recurrent cocaine or saline during adolescence. All mice were challenged
with cocaine as adults.
Results
Recurrent MPH treatment, unlike cocaine treatment in preadolescent mice, had no effect
on locomotor sensitization to cocaine during adolescence or adulthood, as compared
with saline controls. Furthermore, unlike cocaine, administration of MPH in adolescence
did not augment the response to cocaine challenge.
Conclusions
MPH treatment during preadolescence does not increase subsequent sensitivity to cocaine,
whereas cocaine treatment does. Thus, MPH treatment during preadolescence does not
appear to persistently induce long-term adaptations, which may underlie an enhanced
liability for subsequent drug abuse.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: June 15, 2006
Accepted:
March 23,
2006
Received in revised form:
March 23,
2006
Received:
June 3,
2005
Identification
Copyright
© 2006 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
