Cannabinoid-like effects of five novel carboxamide synthetic cannabinoids

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26 Scopus citations

Abstract

A new generation of novel cannabinoid compounds have been developed as marijuana substitutes to avoid drug control laws and cannabinoid blood tests. 5F-MDMB-PINACA (also known as 5F-ADB, 5F-ADB-PINACA), MDMB-CHIMICA, MDMB-FUBINACA, ADB-FUBINACA, and AMB-FUBINACA (also known as FUB-AMB, MMB-FUBINACA) were tested for in vivo cannabinoid-like effects to assess their abuse liability. Locomotor activity in mice was tested to screen for locomotor depressant effects and to identify behaviorally-active dose ranges and times of peak effect. Discriminative stimulus effects were tested in rats trained to discriminate Δ 9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (3 mg/kg, 30-min pretreatment). 5F-MDMB-PINACA (ED 50 = 1.1 mg/kg) and MDMB-CHIMICA (ED 50 = 0.024 mg/kg) produced short-acting (30 min) depression of locomotor activity. ADB-FUBINACA (ED 50 = 0.19 mg/kg), and AMB- FUBINACA (ED 50 = 0.19 mg/kg) depressed locomotor activity for 60–90 min; whereas MDMB-FUBINACA (ED 50 = 0.04 mg/kg) depressed locomotor activity for 150 min. AMB-FUBINACA produced tremors at the highest dose tested. 5F-MDMB-PINACA (ED 50 = 0.07), MDMB-CHIMICA (ED 50 = 0.01 mg/kg), MDMB-FUBINACA (ED 50 = 0.051 mg/kg), ADB-FUBINACA (ED 50 = 0.075 mg/kg) and AMB-FUBINACA (ED 50 = 0.029) fully substituted for the discriminative stimulus effects of Δ 9 -THC following 15-min pretreatment. All 5 compounds decreased locomotor activity and produced discriminative stimulus effects similar to those of Δ 9 -THC, which suggests they may have abuse liability similar to that of Δ 9 -THC. AMB-FUBINACA may have an increased risk of toxicities in recreational users.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)72-79
Number of pages8
JournalNeuroToxicology
Volume70
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2019

Keywords

  • Abuse liability
  • Drug discrimination
  • Locomotor activity
  • Mouse
  • Rat

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