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Mesolimbic dopamine (DA) is a critical component of the brain circuitry regulating behavioral activation and effort-related processes. Rats with impaired DA transmission reallocate their instrumental behavior away from food-reinforced tasks with high response requirements, and instead select less effortful food-seeking behaviors. Previous work showed that adenosine A2A antagonists can reverse the effects of DA D2 antagonists on effort-related choice. However, less is known about the effects of adenosine A1 antagonists. Despite anatomical data showing that A1 and D1 receptors are co-localized on the same striatal neurons, it is uncertain if A1 antagonists can reverse the effects DA D1 antagonists. The present work systematically compared the ability of adenosine A1 and A2A receptor antagonists to reverse the effects of DA D1 and D2 antagonists on a concurrent lever pressing/feeding choice task. With this procedure, rats can choose between responding on a fixed ratio 5 lever-pressing schedule for a highly preferred food (i.e., high carbohydrate pellets) vs. approaching and consuming a less preferred rodent chow. The D1 antagonist ecopipam (0.2 mg/kg IP) and the D2 antagonist eticlopride (0.08 mg/kg IP) altered choice behavior, reducing lever pressing and increasing lab chow intake. Co-administration of the adenosine A1 receptor antagonists DPCPX (0.375, 0.75, and 1.5 mg/kg IP), and CPT (3.0, 6.0, 12.0 mg/kg IP) failed to reverse the effects of either the D1 or D2 antagonist. In contrast, the adenosine A2A antagonist KW-6002 (0.125, 0.25 and 0.5 mg/kg IP) was able to produce a robust reversal of the effects of eticlopride, as well as a mild partial reversal of the effects of ecopipam. Adenosine A2A and DA D2 receptors interact to regulate effort-related choice behavior, which may have implications for the treatment of psychiatric symptoms such as psychomotor slowing, fatigue or anergia that can be observed in depression and other disorders.

Drugs that interfere with cannabinoid CB1 transmission suppress food-motivated behaviors, and may be useful clinically as appetite suppressants. However, there may also be undesirable side effects (e.g., nausea, malaise, anxiety, depression) that are produced by the current generation of CB1 inverse agonists such as rimonabant and taranabant. For that reason, it is important to continue research on novel cannabinoid antagonists. The present studies examined the effects of the novel compound AM6545, which is a neutral antagonist of CB1 receptors that is thought to have relatively poor penetrability into the central nervous system. Intraperitoneal administration of AM6545 significantly reduced food-reinforced operant responding at doses of 4.0, 8.0 and 16.0 mg/kg. AM6545 also produced a strong suppression of the intake of high carbohydrate and high fat diets in the same dose range, but only produced a mild suppression of lab chow intake at the highest dose (16.0 mg/kg). Although AM6545 did not affect food handling, it did reduce time spent feeding and feeding rate. Taken together, these results suggest that AM6545 is a compound that warrants further study as a potential appetite suppressant drug.

Protein kinases are implicated in neuronal cell functions such as modulation of ion channel function, trafficking, and synaptic excitability. Both protein kinase C (PKC) and A (PKA) are involved in regulation of γ-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptors through phosphorylation. However, the role of PKA in regulating GABAA receptors (GABAA-R) following acute ethanol exposure is not known. The present study investigated the role of PKA in the effects of ethanol on GABAA-R α1 subunit expression in rat cerebral cortical P2 synaptosomal fractions. Additionally, GABA-related behaviors were examined. Rats were administered ethanol (2.0–3.5 g/kg) or saline and PKC, PKA, and GABAA-R α1 subunit levels were measured by western blot analysis. Ethanol (3.5 g/kg) transiently increased GABAA-R α1 subunit expression and PKA RIIβ subunit expression at similar time points whereas PKA RIIα was increased at later time points. In contrast, PKC isoform expression remained unchanged. Notably, lower ethanol doses (2.0 g/kg) had no effect on GABAA-R α1 subunit levels, although PKA type II regulatory subunits RIIα and RIIβ were increased at 10 and 60 min when PKC isozymes are also known to be elevated. To determine if PKA activation was responsible for the ethanol-induced elevation of GABAA-R α1 subunits, the PKA antagonist H89 was administered to rats prior to ethanol exposure. H89 administration prevented ethanol-induced increases in GABAA-R α1 subunit expression. Moreover, increasing PKA activity intracerebroventricularly with Sp-cAMP prior to a hypnotic dose of ethanol increased ethanol-induced loss of righting reflex (LORR) duration. This effect appears to be mediated in part by GABAA-R as increasing PKA activity also increased the duration of muscimol-induced LORR. Overall, these data suggest that PKA mediates ethanol-induced GABAA-R expression and contributes to behavioral effects of ethanol involving GABAA-R.

Rationale Ethanol is commonly used and abused during adolescence. Although adolescents display differential behavioral responses to ethanol, the mechanisms by which this occurs are not known. The PKC pathway has been implicated in mediating many ethanol-related effects in adults, as well as GABAA receptor regulation. Objectives The present study was designed to characterize cortical PKC isoform and GABAA receptor subunit expression during adolescence relative to adults as well as assess PKC involvement in ethanol action. Results Novel PKC isoforms were elevated, while PKCγ was lower during mid-adolescence relative to adults. Whole cell lysate and synaptosomal preparations correlated for all isoforms except PKC δ In parallel, synaptosomal GABAA receptor subunit expression was also developmentally regulated, with GABAAR δ and α4 being lower while α1 and γ2 were higher or similar, respectively, in adolescents compared to adults. Following acute ethanol exposure, synaptosomal novel and atypical PKC isoform expression was decreased only in adolescents. Behaviorally, inhibiting PKC with calphostin C, significantly increased ethanol-induced loss of righting reflex (LORR) in adolescents but not adults, whereas activating PKC with phorbol-dibutyrate was ineffective in adolescents but decreased LORR duration in adults. Further investigation revealed that inhibiting the cytosolic phospholipase A2/arachidonic acid (cPLA2/AA) pathway increased LORR duration in adolescents, but was ineffective in adults. Conclusions These data indicate that PKC isoforms are variably regulated during adolescence and may contribute to adolescent ethanol-related behavior. Furthermore, age-related differences in the cPLA2/AA pathway may contribute to age-related ethanol’s effects on novel and atypical PKC isoform expression and behavior.