AND and AND-OR drug mixture discriminations in rats: generalization to single drugs and drug mixtures

Abstract

Rationale: Studies of the discriminative stimulus effects of drug mixtures provide an approach to polydrug abuse and studies on single drugs with multiple effects. Objective: This study was designed to investigate whether the use of the AND-OR procedure increases the specificity of drug mixture discriminations. Methods: Rats were trained to discriminate a mixture of amphetamine (0.4 mg/kg) plus pentobarbitone (10 mg/kg) from saline (AND-discrimination, n = 8) or to discriminate the same mixture from its component drugs alone (AND–OR discrimination, n = 9). The studies used two-lever operant procedures with a tandem variable interval 1-min fixed ratio 10 schedule of food reinforcement. Results: Under AND-discrimination conditions, there was partial generalization to nicotine and midazolam when each drug was administered singly, and there was no generalization to cocaine, caffeine or ethanol. With the AND-OR discrimination, there was no generalization to any of the preceding drugs administered singly. In “single substitution” tests, nicotine or midazolam was co-administered with the training doses of pentobarbitone and amphetamine, respectively; there was full generalization in the AND-discrimination and partial generalization under AND-OR conditions. Cocaine co-administered with pentobarbitone generalized fully under both procedures, but the dose of cocaine needed was much larger in the AND-OR than in the AND-discrimination. In “dual substitution” tests, mixtures of two novel substances were tested. Mixtures of either nicotine plus midazolam or caffeine plus ethanol produced very marked generalization under AND-discrimination conditions, but were without significant effect in the AND-OR procedure. Throughout the studies, in every instance where comparisons were made, generalization was greater or occurred at lower doses under AND- than under the AND-OR discrimination. Conclusions: The study yielded extensive evidence supporting the hypothesis that the AND-OR discrimination procedure increases the specificity of discriminations based on drug mixtures.