Olanzapine-induced suppression of cocaine self-administration in rhesus monkeys

The neuropharmacological profile of the atypical antipsychotic, olanzapine, is consistent with a potentially useful medication for cocaine abuse. The present study utilized an i.v. drug self-administration paradigm in nonhuman primates to obtain definitive evidence regarding the effectiveness of olanzapine to modulate the reinforcing effects of cocaine. The effects of olanzapine were compared directly to those of the neuroleptic, haloperidol. Rhesus monkeys (n ¼ 7) were trained to self-administer cocaine (0.03–0.3 mg/kg/injection) under a second-order, fixed-interval 600-s schedule with fixed ratio 20 components. Experimental sessions comprised five consecutive fixed intervals, each followed by a 1-min timeout. In drug-interaction experiments, a single dose of olanzapine (0.03–0.3 mg/kg) or haloperidol (0.01–0.03 mg/kg) was administered i.v. 15 min presession for at least three consecutive sessions. In drug-substitution experiments, different doses of olanzapine (0.01–0.1 mg/kg/injection) were substituted for cocaine until responding stabilized. Olanzapine caused doserelated decreases in cocaine self-administration at pretreatment doses that had no overt behavioral effects indicative of sedation. A dose of 0.1 mg/kg eliminated cocaine self-administration in all subjects. In contrast, doses of haloperidol that suppressed cocaine selfadministration induced marked sedation and catalepsy. Olanzapine failed to maintain self-administration behavior above saline extinction levels over a range of unit doses. In vivo microdialysis experiments in a second group of awake rhesus monkeys (n ¼ 3) confirmed previous reports in rodents that olanzapine effectively increases extracellular dopamine in ventral striatum. The dose of olanzapine that markedly suppressed cocaine self-administration behavior increased dopamine to approximately 190% of control values. Lastly, pretreatment with fluoxetine had no systematic effect on olanzapine-induced increases in striatal dopamine. The results indicate that olanzapine can effectively suppress cocaine self-administration behavior in nonhuman primates at doses that enhance dopamine release but do not maintain drug self-administration. Neuropsychopharmacology advance online publication, 27 July 2005; doi:10.1038/sj.npp.1300828