Isoarecolone Can Inhibit Nicotine Binding and Produce Nicotine-like Discriminative Stimulus Effects in Rats

Isoarecolone methiodide has been reported previously to be a potent agonist at peripheral nicotinic-cholinergic receptors. Both isoarecolone methiodide and isoarecolone HCl can produce contractures of the frog rectus abdominis muscle and can inhibit binding of [3H]-(-)-nicotine to rat brain membranes, although the methiodide is much more potent than the hydrochloride. In rats trained to discriminate the effects of nicotine from saline, there is generalization to isoarecolone HCl at doses that reduce overall rates of responding. This effect and the similar relative potencies of isoarecolone and nicotine in the biochemical and behavioural procedures support the view that the high-affinity binding site for [3H]-(-)-nicotine is the receptor mediating the discriminative effect.