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 The Lycaeum Forums » Integrate » Science (Moderator: farmerjack)Topic:
 Resource Thread of Animals on Psychoactives

[DrYRHead]

edit: LOL what the hell this dog sniffed out money... http://www.usk9.com/images/VictorSmith.jpg

Most money has cocaine residue on it. Many times customs can find undeclared cash on people due to the residue.

[Kasumi]

^^is having undeclared cash illegal?  or does the undeclared cash generally means other illegal business is going on?  or is the money counterfeit?

[Kasumi]

[DrYRHead]

^^is having undeclared cash illegal?  or does the undeclared cash generally means other illegal business is going on?  or is the money counterfeit?

It is undeclared cash. As you know, the customs forms will ask if you have >$10,000 U$D, or foreign equivalent currency, on you while traveling abroad. It is the people that have more than that, and that have hidden it that they catch. They customs officials will then, indeed, assume that those people are up to something illegal.

[Kasumi]

A herd of rogue elephants ran amok in India's northeastern state of Assam, trampling five people to death and destroying dozens of houses.
Police believe the herd could have been upset by a train killing a baby elephant a few days ago.

Locals say the animals have developed a taste for locally-brewed rice beer and may have been drunk.

South Asia Correspondent Mike Wooldridge: "Particularly tragic"
The dead include four children, two of them two-year-old twins, police said. The twins' mother was also injured by the stampeding elephants.

About 60 elephants rampaged through a village at Tingri, near the Digboi oil refinery, 530kms (330 miles) east of the state capital Dispur.

Police say the most likely explanation for the elephants' behaviour is that Tingri is one of the nearest villages to where a baby elephant was knocked down and killed by a train, and this could have been a reaction.

Competition for food in the elephants' shrinking natural habitat could be another reason.

Sonadhar Doley, Assam's chief wildlife warden, said: "A shrinking habitat and a disproportionate increase in their numbers in the last decade have led to alarming behavioural changes in the elephants."

Another theory for the stampede is that the herd got drunk on rice beer.

Locals say elephants have developed a taste for the brew and can become unpredictable after drinking.

And wildlife officials have expressed concern over the elephants' new-found taste for "laopani" a locally-brewed rice beer.

But police say it is the least likely explanation for the stampede.

Forest officials have been sent to the area to chase out the elephants.

Assam has a population of nearly 5,500 wild elephants, who have trampled more than 500 people to death in the past 10 years.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/241781.stm

Drunken elephants have trampled at least six people to death in the northeast Indian state of Assam, local officials say.
The herd of wild elephants stumbled across the supplies of homemade rice beer after they destroyed granaries in search of food.

The incident happened near Tinsukia, 550 kilometres (344 miles) from the Assam capital, Guwahati.

"They smashed huts and plundered granaries and broke open casks to drink rice beer. The herd then went berserk killing six people," a forestry official told AFP news agency.

 
Police said four of those killed were children.

According to experts, elephants often emerge from Assam's forests in search of food.

But much to the annoyance of the local residents, they destroy rice fields and granaries.

Environmental questions

Growing elephant numbers and the devastation of the animal's natural habitat are partly to blame for the problem.

Officials in Assam say at least 150 people have been killed by elephants in the last two years.

The deaths have led villagers to kill up to 200 elephants.

"It has been noticed that elephants have developed a taste for rice beer and local liquor and they always look for it when they invade villages," an elephant expert in Guwahati told Reuters news agency.

The region is home to more than half of India's elephant population, estimated at 10,000.

The Assam Government's protection of elephants over the last 20 years, including a ban on their hunting, has led numbers to increase to about 5,500.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2583891.stm

[Kasumi]

HUMAN beings were not the first to use recreational drugs. Some apes take stimulants and hallucinogens, sometimes munching roots that now show promise in treating human addicts, say scientists.

Prof Michael Huffman of the Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University and Don Cousins, author of The Magnificent Gorilla, report in a forthcoming issue of the journal African Study Monographs that apes may indulge in drugs - from a pick-me-up of the kind found in coffee to hallucinogens.

Monkey on your back: apes may use drugs recreationally
Earlier work in the journal Bioscience by Prof Huffman suggested that the practice of medicine began with our hairy ancestors: some chimps swallow bristly, rough leaves to sweep parasites out of the gut, while others suck the bitter pith from the tree Vernonia amygdalina, which contains compounds active against parasites responsible for malaria and dysentery.

Now it seems that apes may use drugs recreationally. African apes eat the seeds of Kola trees which contain caffeine and theobromine and are legendary for their effect in preventing fatigue. They found that two hallucinogenic plants are ingested by gorillas in Equatorial Guinea and chimpanzees in the Republic of Guinea: Alchornea floribunda and A. cordifolia (Euphorbiaceae).

A floribunda is used in Gabonese cults where the root has a reputation as an intoxicant and aphrodisiac. It is said to provide a state of intense excitement followed by a deep, sometimes fatal depression. Most intriguing, said Prof Huffman, is how local people claim to have discovered the intoxicating effects of the plant by watching animals, including gorillas, go into a frenzy of fear, as if being chased by invisible objects, after eating the roots.

The apes even resort to a drugs detox. The Tabernanthe iboga root has been exploited by gorillas of Sindara on the Ngounie river, South of Lambarene.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/12/26/wape26.xml

[Kasumi]

Scorpion venoms contain low molecular weight basic polypeptides, neurotoxins, that are the principal toxic agents. These toxins act on ion channels, promoting a derangement that may result in an abnormal release of neurotransmitters. In the present study we investigated some of the effects of the F, H and J fractions isolated from Tityus serrulatus scorpion venom on the central nervous system of rodents. The venom was partially purified by gel filtration chromatography. The neurotoxic effect of these fractions was studied on convulsive activity after intravenous injection, and on electrographic activity and neuronal integrity of rat hippocampus when injected directly into this brain area. The results showed that intravenous injection of the F and H fractions induced convulsions, and intrahippocampal injection caused electrographic seizures in rats and neuronal damage in specific hippocampal areas. Fraction J injected intravenously reduced the general activity of mice in the open field but induced no changes when injected into the brain. These results suggest that scorpion toxins are able to act directly on the central nervous system promoting behavioural, electrographic and histological modifications.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10815747&dopt=Abstract

A 60-year-old man with a 35-year history of heroin dependence was admitted for detoxification. On detailed evaluation the patient admitted to using scorpions on many occasions when heroin was not available. He described a distinct pleasurable effect of the sting that was more potent than heroin. He experienced an instant rush and would feel relaxed and would be under its effects for almost six hours. The patient used to collect the scorpions from the crevices in the rocks and would make it sting his hands before disposing them. He did not report any hallucinations or loss of consciousness any time during his sojourns.
http://www.jpgmonline.com/article.asp?issn=0022-3859;year=2006;volume=52;issue=4;spage=325;epage=326;aulast=Varghese#ref1

[DrYRHead]

I've read somewhere about people using scorpions to get high before. The sting would still hurt like hell, though. 

[thoughtiknew]

So yeah, no shit - wierd enough is the fact taht my cat will eat olives (green, black, doesn't matter). What's stranger still though is that after she does her behaviour is distinctly and consistently altered, in a very similar fashion to the way catnip affects her, i.e she gets very active (normally she's lazy as hell), chases things that aren't there, purrs a lot , that sort o thing. Any one got any explanations or similar experiences, or is my cat just nuts?

[prolixity]

So yeah, no shit - wierd enough is the fact taht my cat will eat olives (green, black, doesn't matter). What's stranger still though is that after she does her behaviour is distinctly and consistently altered, in a very similar fashion to the way catnip affects her, I.e she gets very active (normally she's lazy as hell), chases things that aren't there, purrs a lot , that sort o thing. Any one got any explanations or similar experiences, or is my cat just nuts?

Don't give your cat the olives when you're done with the martini?

[whateveryouwantmetobe]

cats are sensitive to omega-3s? (which olives have lots of)

or as stated previously don't feed the cat olives out of your martini

[Kasumi]

Consider that olives are fermented,
perhaps it is an alcohol of the feline

[IsomerFairy69]

The guy's head was all full of holes and melting, and the EEG machine they had him hooked up to to monitor his brain waves before they decided to saw him started to emit evp-ghost like sounds, which were later found to be the voices in the man's head that were a result of lsd abuse. The voices shot out of the EEG machine like something from the Hellraiser flicks. How the eeg machine came to emit sounds, I don't know. Scary Shit.

wtf? link, plz.. 

[dorfder]

yeah hey like this tiny black ant fell or jumped into a water/hydrocodone mixture.  It killed him.  Or else it paralyzed him 'cuss he ain't movin.       Really.   

[necronomic_shaman]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xkmf_QKqo64

this cat doesn't look happy.  but who knows how much thy gave him.

[necronomic_shaman]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcarglWIRk8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQoxxf5sdE8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA3dHi_o7Yw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qrPeV1t9uU  - this one is obviously a joke but funny

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnHArXKBBv8

[Mens Rea]

not drug-related, but most definitely "psychoactive."

THE CAT THAT CAN PREDICT DEATH

"The footsteps down the corridor of the Steere House Nursing And Rehabilitation Centre are light but purposeful as Oscar makes his way towards the end of the hallway and stops outside room 310.

The door is pulled firmly shut and, untroubled, he sits down outside it, and waits some 25 minutes until a nurse's aide appears, her arms full of dirty linen.

"Ah, Oscar," she smiles, and with a nod, almost as if she were expecting him, allows him to pass into the room where a frail elderly lady, her body ravaged by cancer, is sleeping fitfully. Oscar sniffs ostentatiously around, resists the blandishments of the relatives gathered round the bedside, struts out and continues on his round. For the lady in room 310, the time has not yet come.

The patient in the next room into which Oscar pokes his grey-and-white head is not so lucky. This time, Oscar weighs the situation carefully, then leaps on to the bed and curls up beside the woman lying in it.

A few moments later he is spotted, snuggled up there, by a passing nurse who immediately raises the alarm, not kick-starting a security alert to rid the ward of an unwanted intruder but a frenetic flurry of activity as medical records are fetched, a priest is called, and relatives are alerted to the likelihood of the patient's imminent demise.

Because Oscar, as everyone in this nursing home is agreed, has special powers - more even than the doctors and palliative care specialists who come to tend to the terminally ill here.

For like a harbinger of bad news, Oscar is able to discern the exact moment at which the angel of death comes to stand at their bedside. It is an unusual skill, certainly. All the more so because Oscar is just a cat.

The fluffy, two-year-old, grey and white brindled pet was adopted by the dementia unit at the home in Rhode Island and named by its residents after a famous American hot dog brand.

Oscar curls up next to patients who have just a few hours to live

Yet his skills of divination are beyond question - and have even been the subject of an article in as august a publication as the New England Journal Of Medicine. To date he has predicted the deaths of 25 patients, and done so with such accuracy that he has completely won the trust of even the initially incredulous medical staff.

"This cat really seems to know when patients are about to die," says Dr David Dosa, a geriatrician at Rhode Island hospital who also attends patients at Steere House.

"We started to see something was happening about 18 months ago and at first I think we were all very sceptical. But it's not an unusual occurrence for patients to die here, so we've had plenty of opportunities to witness and observe the phenomenon."

The first signals come as early as two days beforehand, when Oscar leaves his usual favourite solitary spots under a doctor's desk or sunbathing in the windows of an empty office and begins doing his rounds, padding round the corridors of the unit, visiting patients but never lingering.

"When somebody's not ready to die, he leaves," says Dr Dosa. "He doesn't settle in their room until the day they die. Sometimes it can be as much as four hours beforehand, but he's universally there, curled up on their bed, two hours before they take their last breath."

Oscar was just a kitten, a small, stray bundle of fur, when he arrived at the home in July 2005, and since then he has not failed to spot a single death. On occasions, his skills have been sorely tested, for example when a visiting palliative care expert, Dr Joan Teno of Brown University, noticed that a patient seemed to be running out of time.

"I think it was around the 13th patient," she says. "Their breathing had changed, and their extremities were cooling. We'd already noticed Oscar seemed to have form in predicting when someone was about to die so I asked if he'd been in. Mary the nurse said, 'No' and I said, 'Oh, let's put him in there and let him keep his streak going.'

"So we did. Oscar went in, sniffed around - and promptly left the room. The next morning I asked how things had gone overnight and was told the patient had died at 2.30am - about ten hours after I'd predicted. And Oscar had gone back into the room, and stayed there, two hours beforehand. So he's obviously a better prognosticator than I am."

As far as those who work there are aware, there is only one death at which Oscar has not been present - and that wasn't because he didn't notice it, but because relatives of the patient asked for him to be removed from the room.

Oscar has predicted 25 cases

Standing outside, Oscar began such a noisy commotion of frenzied caterwauling, miaowing and scratching at the door that he had to be removed from the unit. Clearly, he wanted to be in the room and was not happy about being told he had to stay away.

His insistence was all the more peculiar because although Oscar purrs contentedly as he nestles close to those who have just hours to live, he normally prefers to stay aloof from human company.

As Dosa puts it, "Oscar is not usually particularly friendly. He actually doesn't like spending time with either patients or staff. Sure, you can usually bribe him with some food if you want to, but that's about it."

So what draws him so strongly towards those who are nearing the very end of their lives?

"That's actually the most puzzling part of it," observes Daniel Mills, a specialist in veterinary behavioural medicine at Lincoln University. He believes the idea that a cat, or indeed another animal, might be able to intuitively sense the proximity of death is not nearly as fanciful as it seems.

"Animals are particularly sensitive to a whole range of cues of which we are not always aware and can pick up on minute chemical changes," he explains. "For example, you can train a dog to predict an epilepsy fit in a patient before they even sense it themselves, or even detect cancer, so it seems reasonable to suppose you might be able to train a cat to detect that a person was terminally ill, particularly as they have such a good sense of smell.

"The challenge is that it's hard to see what the cat might get out of it. After all, the person they've gone to sit with dies - so why should it engage in that sort of behaviour?"

He postulates that one 'admittedly far-fetched' reason might be that metabolism changes shortly before a person dies, "and often the body makes a last-ditch surge. So perhaps they get a little warmer, and the cat seeks them out because of that. It would be very interesting, macabre though it sounds, to see video footage of this happening, to get a better insight."

Others have also speculated that the cat might be responding to physical signals - subtle changes in smells and hormones - not fully understood by humans but detectable to the whiskery feline nose.

Laurie Cabot, the 'official witch' of Salem, Massachusetts, where the infamous 17th century witchcraft trials were held, has another theory.

In her view, Oscar is acting as a 'familiar' - the term witches of old used to refer to the cats who were their constant companions - which means that he is in psychic communication with the patients he visits.

"He knows they are going to die because he is picking up on their brainwaves," says Cabot, a descendant of a family that arrived in America on the Mayflower with the Pilgrims. "Science has found that the brainwaves of cats never go into Beta mode, they are always in Alpha. And it is in the Alpha range that all psychic things happen.

"This little cat Oscar knows all the patients in the unit and he is trying to help them, just like the cats that I've always kept will curl up on my chest and try to heal me if I feel upset or am ill. In this case, though, Oscar is not trying to heal, he is clearly trying to help these people walk over into the other world."

Cabot might find further support for her theory in the fact that Oscar does not leave the patient after they have died, preferring to stay with the body until the undertaker arrives. Then those who have cared for the patient escort the corpse out in a procession to honour the patient. Oscar, because he lives in the locked dementia unit, is not allowed off the premises, but he always walks with the funereal procession to the door, and watches as it leaves.

Dr Teno shares Cabot's idea that Oscar is a compassionate cat, but she prefers a slightly more prosaic explanation for the way he behaves.

"He's not a bad omen," she says, "He comforts the dying patients - and what's striking is that, in a centre that offers a real gold-standard in end-of-life treatment, Oscar seems to be mimicking the behaviour of those who work there. He makes the room feel like more of a homely setting, and has become part of the soothing ritual."

Certanly, some relatives of those who have had the 'Oscar experience', feel his contribution was positive. "Oscar's presence gave a sense of completion and contentment," says Jack McCullough of East Providence, whose mother and aunt both died at Steere.

"What could be more peaceful than a purring cat? And what sound more beautiful to fill one's ears when leaving life? He brought a special serenity to the room."

Not everyone might agree; but although Oscar is the only one of the home's six cats to behave in this way, he might not be unique.

Since his story began to hit the American papers, his nursing home has received dozens of e-mails and letters from people all over the world who say they know a cat that appears to have similar powers.

And as long as Oscar continues to predict, rather than to curse, there can surely be no harm in it."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=470906&in_page_id=1770

If some of the above postulated theories are true, then some field tests should be done using this cat to figure out exactly what it is that is causing the cat to move. If he really is picking up on the patients' brainwaves, tests should be conducted using high dose of anesthetics and sedatives.

Regardless, it is mystical and intriguing. I'm sure the answer will be similar to this phenomenon in the end:

Some dogs can predict when a child will have an epileptic seizure, a new study has revealed. These dogs not only protect their charges from injuries, such as falling, but also seem to help kids deal with the daily struggle of epilepsy.

Nine of the 60 dogs in the study (15 per cent) were able to predict a seizure by licking, whimpering, or standing next to the child. These dogs were remarkably accurate - they predicted 80 per cent of seizures, with no false reports.

However, those interested in owning a dog with these skills cannot yet just order one. The dogs were not trained, but instead began predicting seizures spontaneously within a month of moving in with their owners.

"No one is reliably training such dogs yet," says Adam Kirton, a neurologist at Alberta Children's Hospital in Canada and lead author of the study. His group is looking into setting up a training program. However, some epilepsy patients do have already dogs that have been trained to protect them during a seizure.

Children with epilepsy are at risk of falling or choking during a seizure. The injury rate is highly variable, but can be about 20 per cent for some types of childhood epilepsy.

"But the worst part of the disease isn't a seizure, it's fear of the next seizure," says Kirton. "By knowing when a seizure might happen, it could liberate them and free them to do what they want to do."
Minutes to hours

Before the new study, reports of dogs predicting seizures had only been anecdotal. So Kirton and colleagues attempted to systematically assess dog behaviour by sending questionnaires to families in their clinic.

Forty-two percent of the families with both an epileptic child and a dog said their dogs responded to seizures. And nine of these dogs actually anticipated the seizure, alerting families minutes to hours before the seizure occurred. Also, dog-owning families reported a higher quality of life than those without, with the owners of seizure-alerting dogs reporting the highest values.

One possible weakness of the study is that the behaviour was reported by the dog-owners themselves, who may overestimated their dog's abilities. Kirton therefore plans to do another study in a more clinical setting, which will also try to determine how these dogs predict seizures.

At present, the mechanism is unknown. But some researchers speculate that the dog could be using subtle visual or olfactory cues that occur before a seizure.

Gregory Holmes, a neurologist at Dartmouth Medical School in New Hampshire, says the dogs could be detecting a change in smell. "People have autonomic changes, such as increased sweating, which a dog could pick up on."

According to Douglas Nordli, director of the children's epilepsy center at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, such external changes could result from a small electrical discharge that occurs in the brain before the full blown electrical seizure.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn6047-dogs-can-predict-epileptic-seizures.html

It is speculated that the dogs pick up on some electrical activity that is probably external to the body somehow and can be perceived using their extrasensory perception...

[Mens Rea]

now THIs is interesting...

Buprenorphine supresses self-administration cocaine in rhesus monkeys

Buprenorphine suppresses cocaine self-administration by rhesus monkeys
NK Mello, JH Mendelson, MP Bree, and SE Lukas

Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Center, Harvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA 02178.

Cocaine abuse has reached epidemic proportions in the United States, and the search for an effective pharmacotherapy continues. Because primates self-administer most of the drugs abused by humans, they can be used to predict the abuse liability of new drugs and for preclinical evaluation of new pharmacotherapies for drug abuse treatment. Daily administration of buprenorphine (an opioid mixed agonist-antagonist) significantly suppressed cocaine self-administration by rhesus monkeys for 30 consecutive days. The effects of buprenorphine were dose-dependent. The suppression of cocaine self-administration by buprenorphine did not reflect a generalized suppression of behavior. These data suggest that buprenorphine would be a useful pharmacotherapy for treatment of cocaine abuse. Because buprenorphine is a safe and effective pharmacotherapy for heroin dependence, buprenorphine treatment may also attenuate dual abuse of cocaine and heroin.

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/refs/245/4920/859



The Effects of Chronic Cocaine Self-Administration on the Menstrual Cycle in Rhesus Monkeys.

Cocaine Blockade of the Acetylcholine-Activated Muscarinic K+ Channel in Ferret Cardiac Myocytes1

Yong-Fu Xiao and James P. Morgan

The Charles A. Dana Research Institute and The Harvard-Thorndike Laboratory, Cardiovascular Division, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts

The effects of cocaine on the acetylcholine(ACh)-activated muscarinic K+ current (IK(ACh)) were assessed with the whole-cell patch-clamp technique in single atrial and left ventricular myocytes enzymatically isolated from adult ferret hearts. The density of IK(ACh) is almost 5 times greater in atrial cells than in left ventricular myocytes. Cocaine reversibly blocked IK(ACh) in a dose-dependent manner. Methylecgonidine (MEG), the major product of pyrolysis of cocaine base, also produced similar effects on IK(ACh). The concentration to produce 50% inhibition of IK(ACh) was 25 µM and 12 µM for cocaine and MEG, respectively. Cocaine at micromolar concentrations also significantly inhibited the adenosine-activated purinergic K+ current (IK(Ado)), which has the same electrophysiological properties as IK(ACh). Furthermore, cocaine inhibited IK(ACh) activated by GTPgamma S, which evokes IK(ACh) by bypassing the muscarinic receptor and directly activating the G-protein, GK. These results suggest that cocaine-induced suppression of IK(ACh) is caused by its interactions beyond the binding site of muscarinic receptors. The antimuscarinic effect of cocaine may play an important role in cocaine cardiotoxicity by reducing the membrane electrical stability and acting synergistically with other actions of cocaine to facilitate the occurrence of lethal cardiac arrhythmias.

http://www.jpet.org/cgi/content/abstract/281/1/70

delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol: antiaggressive effects in mice, rats, and squirrel monkeys
KA Miczek

delta9-Tetrahydrocannabinol, the most active constituent of marihuana, decreased species-specific attack behavior in mice, rats, and squirrel monkeys at doses (0.25 to 2.0 milligram per kilogram of body weight) that have no effects on other elements of the behavioral repertoire. Aggressive behavior was engendered in all three species by confronting a resident animal with an intruder conspecific. The present results contrast with the widely held belief that marihuana increases aggressive behavior.

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/199/4336/1459?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=monkeys+THC&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT

Effects of Proposed Treatments for Cocaine Addiction on Hemodynamic Responsiveness to Cocaine in Conscious Rats1

Mark M. Knuepfer and Qi Gan

Department of Pharmacological and Physiological Science, St. Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri

Several agents may treat cocaine addiction and toxicity including bromocriptine, desipramine, GBR 12909 [1-(2-(bis(4-fluorphenyl)-methoxy)-ethyl)-4-(3-phenyl-propyl)piperazine], diazepam, buprenorphine and dizocilpine. In this study, we sought to determine whether these specific therapeutic agents alter cardiovascular responses to cocaine in conscious rats. Arterial pressure responses to cocaine (5 mg/kg, I.v.) were similar in all rats whereas cardiac output responses varied widely. In 26 of 33 rats (named vascular responders), cocaine induced a decrease in cardiac output of 8% or more. The remaining rats with little change or an increase in cardiac output were classified as mixed responders. Pretreatment with bromocriptine (0.1 mg/kg) or desipramine (1 mg/kg) increased cardiac output in mixed responders and increased systemic vascular resistance in vascular responders similar to the differential effects noted with cocaine. GBR 12909 (0.5-10 mg/kg) elicited a decrease in cardiac output at higher doses. Diazepam (0.1 and 0.5 mg/kg) had small, short-lasting effects on cardiovascular parameters. Buprenorphine (0.3 mg/kg) or the NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartic acid) receptor antagonist, dizocilpine (0.05 mg/kg), increased arterial pressure, heart rate and cardiac output in vascular responders. Bromocriptine and desipramine prevented the difference in cardiac output responses in vascular and mixed responders by reducing the cocaine-induced decrease in cardiac output in vascular responders. Pretreatment with GBR 12909 (1 mg/kg) had little effect on cardiovascular responses to cocaine except to depress the increase in cardiac output noted in mixed responders. Buprenorphine selectively enhanced the increase in systemic vascular resistance whereas dizocilpine enhanced the pressor response. These data suggest that several treatment regimens for cocaine addiction alter the cardiovascular responses to cocaine and that dopamine D2 receptor activation may be necessary for the decrease in cardiac output noted in vascular responders.

http://www.jpet.org/cgi/content/abstract/283/2/592

Effects of Kappa Opioids on Cocaine Self-Administration by Rhesus Monkeys1

S. Stevens Negus, Nancy K. Mello, Philip S. Portoghese and Chai-En Lin

Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Center, Harvard Medical School-McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts (S.S.N., N.K.M.), and Department of Pharmacology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota (P.S.P., C.-E.L.)

Kappa opioid agonists attenuate some neurochemical and behavioral effects of cocaine and are being considered as potential treatments for cocaine dependence. The present study examined the effects of two kappa opioid agonists, the benzomorphan ethylketocyclazocine (EKC) and the arylacetamide U50,488, on cocaine self-administration in rhesus monkeys. Monkeys responded for 0.032 mg/kg/injection cocaine (I.v.) and 1 g banana-flavored food pellets during alternating daily sessions of cocaine and food availability. Chronic treatment for 10 consecutive days with EKC (0.0032-0.032 mg/kg/hr) or U50,488 (0.032-0.1 mg/kg/hr) dose-dependently decreased self-administration of cocaine unit doses at the peak of the cocaine dose-effect curve (0.01 and 0.032 mg/kg/injection). These decreases in cocaine self-administration were often sustained throughout the 10 days of treatment. Doses of EKC and U50,488 that decreased cocaine self-administration usually decreased food-maintained responding as well. In addition, EKC and U50,488 often produced emesis and sedation during the first few days of treatment, although tolerance appeared to develop rapidly to these effects. In general, EKC produced fewer undesirable effects than U50,488 at doses that decreased cocaine self-administration. The kappa antagonist norbinaltorphimine (3.2 mg/kg) did not affect responding maintained by cocaine or food. However, both norbinaltorphimine (3.2 mg/kg) and the opioid antagonist naloxone (1.0 mg/kg/hr) blocked the effects of EKC and U50,488. These results indicate that chronic administration of EKC and U50,588 produce a dose-dependent, kappa receptor-mediated and often sustained decrease in cocaine self-administration. However, these kappa agonists also produce undesirable behavioral effects that may complicate their use as treatments for cocaine dependence.

http://www.jpet.org/cgi/content/abstract/282/1/44

Toxicity Associated With Long-term Intravenous Heroin and Cocaine Self-Administration
in the Rat

Laboratory rats were given unlimited access to intravenous cocaine hydrochloride or heroin hydrochloride. Animals self-administering cocaine quickly developed a pattern of episodic drug intake, with periods of excessive cocaine self-administration alternating with brief periods of abstinence. Subjects allowed continuous access to intravenous heroin showed stable drug self-administration, with a gradual increase in daily heroin intake over the first two weeks of testing. The general health of the animals became markedly different: those self-administering heroin maintained grooming behavior, pretesting body weight, and a good state of general health; rats self-administering cocaine tended to cease grooming behavior, loose up to 47% of their pretesting body weight, and to show a pronounced deterioration in general health. The mortality rate for 30 days of continuous testing was 36% for animals self-administering heroin and 90% for those self-administering cocaine. These results suggest that cocaine is a much more toxic compound than heroin when animals are given unlimited access to intravenous drug.

 
Opiate addiction has traditionally been associated with a moderate fatality rate. Cocaine use, on the other hand, is considered by many to be a relatively safe habit. Reported causes of death directly attributable to cocaine use seem to be less frequent. With the current rise in cocaine use, it is appropriate to estimate the mortality rate from addiction to this compound relative to that of heroin, which is widely recognized as a moderately dangerous drug addiction. The possibility exists that factors limiting availability and use are responsible for the apparent safety of cocaine and that, given the availability of large quantities of high-grade drug, cocaine toxicity has been underestimated.

Studies involving intravenous (IV) drug self-administration in laboratory animals have typically limited access to drug during the experimental session. One reason for this is that early tests of cocaine self-administration with unlimited access resulted in a high subject fatality rate.

While this observation is sufficient to prompt investigators to limit periods of drug access during experimental testing of stimulant drugs, there has not been a systematic comparison of the toxicity of cocaine and heroin during continuous access. The present study reports tests where animals were allowed continuous access to either IV cocaine hydrochloride or heroin hydrochloride for 30 days. The hourly drug intake was measured for each 24-hour period of testing, and observations were made regarding the general health of the animals.

Read the rest and the results here: http://wings.buffalo.edu/aru/ARUreport06.htm

[Mens Rea]

uh oh...

Dyskinesias elicited by methamphetamine: susceptibility of former methadone-consuming monkeys
RD Eibergen and KR Carlson

Rhesus monkeys with a history of drinking methadone but currently drug-free and control monkeys with no drug history were injected with methamphetamine hydrochloride (2 to 5 milligrams per kilogram of body weight). In six of seven monkeys which had consumed methadone the lowest dose immediately elicited pronounced oral dyskinesias virtually identical to those of human tardive dyskinesia. The control monkeys did not exhibit oral dyskinesias even after prolonged treatment with the highest dose. The clincial implications may be related to the functioning of brain dopaminergic systems.

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/190/4214/588?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=monkeys+THC&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT

Methamphetamine-Induced Insulin Release
Edward M. Mcmahon 1, Dana K. Andersen 1, Jerome M. Feldman 1, and Saul M. Schanberg 1

1 Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27706

Administration of methamphetamine or amphetamine to rats and mice produces a rapid increase in the level of immunoassayable plasma insulin not attributable to hyperglycemia. While in the mouse this release of insulin is followed consistently by a profound hypoglycemia, in the rat this response is variable. Studies in vitro demonstrate that insulin is released by a direct effect of methamphetamine on the pancreas.

Very interesting. I always thought meth affected diabetes levels somehow.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/search?src=hw&site_area=sci&fulltext=monkeys+methamphetamine&search_submit.x=0&search_submit.y=0&search_submit=go

Severe Dopaminergic Neurotoxicity in Primates After a Common Recreational Dose Regimen of MDMA ("Ecstasy")

George A. Ricaurte,1* Jie Yuan,1 George Hatzidimitriou,1 Branden J. Cord,2 Una D. McCann3

The prevailing view is that the popular recreational drug (±)3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, or "ecstasy") is a selective serotonin neurotoxin in animals and possibly in humans. Nonhuman primates exposed to several sequential doses of MDMA, a regimen modeled after one used by humans, developed severe brain dopaminergic neurotoxicity, in addition to less pronounced serotonergic neurotoxicity. MDMA neurotoxicity was associated with increased vulnerability to motor dysfunction secondary to dopamine depletion. These results have implications for mechanisms of MDMA neurotoxicity and suggest that recreational MDMA users may unwittingly be putting themselves at risk, either as young adults or later in life, for developing neuropsychiatric disorders related to brain dopamine and/or serotonin deficiency.

1 Department of Neurology,
2 Department of Neurosciences,
3 Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: Ricaurte@jhmi.edu

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/297/5590/2260?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=MDMA+rats&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT






I would really like to see some animals on hallucinogens. I'm willing to bet certain species would be completely unaffected by them, just like children under age 12.

[phan]

Haven't you seen that cat on lsd?  It's sick.  Not right in the slightest.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=EJEw3A_QO9o

wow, watching that again instills a hate for whoever's idea this was.  Pure Bunkness

[ST1R]

The cat is a soul stealer!
He just wants to be there to steal their last breath.


This kid is extracting the souls to stay young.

[Mens Rea]

The cat is a soul stealer!
He just wants to be there to steal their last breath.

haha yeah, maybe that cat is really the grim reaper and he causes the people to die.

[DrYRHead]

Haven't you seen that cat on lsd?  It's sick.  Not right in the slightest.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=EJEw3A_QO9o

wow, watching that again instills a hate for whoever's idea this was.  Pure Bunkness

Maybe it was the CIA.  They used to dose people with LSD without telling then 1st too.

[Mens Rea]

i just fed my barking doggie some doggie xanax  she's gonna be one sleepy pooch in a little bit...

[Carlo]

Quote from CrystalG -  "I would really like to see some animals on hallucinogens. I'm willing to bet certain species would be completely unaffected by them, just like children under age 12."


WTF are you talking about? That has got to be one of the most idiotic and misguided statements I've seen on the site!

And as for your dog...do you walk it, feed it and give it attention every day? Not according to posts elsewhere about your lack of exercise.

Poor dog!

[DrYRHead]

What does she mean kids >12 do not get effected by hallucinogens.  Jimmy the Guinea pig said that he did his 1st shroom trip at 11, and he used to be able to trip out on MJ at that age too.
I swear CrystalG is such a dweeb. BTW, she is history, again, too. 

[Mens Rea]

I wrote this in my spare time for an animal rights forum, because I'm a nerd and I think too much.

What It Means To Be An Animal Rights Activist: Tackling the Subject of Experimentation

Animal experimentation. It's a huge heated issue that has been on the debate for years on end. One side argues that some of its practices are inhumane (some which I arguably cannot deny after witnessing some horrendous experiments). The other side argues that it is necessary because human safety comes first.

However, I am here to tackle and bring on the discussion of experimentation involving DRUGS. Controlled substances, if you will. It's important, for many reasons. So many people are against it, without realizing how beneficial these studies are in understanding exactly the biochemistry, pharmacology, physiology, and psychiatry that is going on in a drug-addicts' brain.

Check out some of these studies and what it could potentially mean for future science and therapy for recovering drug addicts... seriously, you have to admit some of these are fucking amazing! The first one, by far, is my favorite...

Buprenorphine suppresses cocaine self-administration by rhesus monkeys: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/refs/245/4920/859
HUMAN beings were not the first to use recreational drugs: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/12/26/wape26.xml
Effects of Proposed Treatments for Cocaine Addiction on Hemodynamic Responsiveness to Cocaine in Conscious Rats: http://www.jpet.org/cgi/content/abstract/283/2/592
Effects of Kappa Opioids on Cocaine Self-Administration by Rhesus Monkeys1: http://www.jpet.org/cgi/content/abstract/282/1/44
Dyskinesias elicited by methamphetamine: susceptibility of former methadone-consuming monkeys: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/190/4214/588?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=monkeys+THC&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT
Severe Dopaminergic Neurotoxicity in Primates After a Common Recreational Dose Regimen of MDMA ("Ecstasy"): http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/297/5590/2260?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=MDMA+rats&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT

And I haven't even begun yet. There are a myriad of other studies out there, if you're interested enough to go and look for yourself. But did you also know that animals, in nature, actually LIKE to get drunk? They intentionally eat fermented fruit and wait for it to take effect. Watch the videos for an interesting documentary and some cute hilarity to ensue:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypXJaLQXKQk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLAj4sMhWzs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNka9369t6Y

Not only that, alcoholism in animals has also helped us to understand the specifics and process evolution and realize exactly what species we came from, as is shown in the case of the Rhesus monkeys that reside on the beaches of the remote islands surrounding Jamaica. What makes theses monkeys so interesting, is that they love one thing so much, they will actually STEAL it from tourists who visit the carribean areas. And that one thing is alcohol. They actually imbibe cocktails and seem to enjoy it even more than food. The reason it is believed that we evolved from this species is because after much faraway scientific observation, it has been concluded that 1% of the animal group are hardcore alcoholics and heavy drinkers drunk 24/7, a majority of them are social and occasional drinkers, 10% of them don't stop drinking until they finish the glass, and then there's that 5% that does not partake in any alcoholic consumption at all, although they may enjooy other human beverages such as sodas and juice. This is very interesting because this is the exact same percentage that is seen in humans. The ratio is strikingly identical.

Even my friend the other day, while puffing bongs with his fellow pet (I was just watching, I don't smoke pot, ironically enough); he was discussing how one of his 3 dogs just absolutely loves to get fucked up on ANYTHING. He will drink beer, get excited at the sight of a morphine pill, he just looooooooooves to get fucked up on thc, tweak, ANYTHING that is available. Seriously, that kid is bonkers, even I don't understand it. By the words of my friend: "My dog ain't exactly no angel when it comes to drugs."
 
While it may not be fair to introduce drugs to an animal, is it also fair for a much older drug addict to introduce drugs to a kid who barely turned into a teenager? Happens all the time in our world, and it's a vicious repetitious cycle that just never ends, because chances are that teenager is 5 times more likely to grow up a drug addict when they are exposed to it at an age (typically younger than 13). So, why is nobody fighting for them? Didn't these kids have about as much of a "choice" to use as these animals who are hooked up to an IV machine, and given a button to hit and release to inject a controlled substance in them? Maybe this is an issue that is very important to me, because it hits a personal spot with me (to those of you in the animal rights group: let's just say I'm the owner of the "Chemical Halo" group and leave it at that... that alone should tell you how involved with substances I am).

I sometimes do give my pet sedatives if they're being overactive when I leave my home for long periods of time (this can be up to 12 hours sometimes since I take the bus). Usually I drug their food with a tab of benadryl, although there is one instance where I gave her diamorphine (heroin) sub-Q'd. And based on her reaction, guess which drug she's enjoyed the most? Of course, I never did it again, because I wouldn't want to push physical opiate addiction on her... I only did it once, as an experiment, and of course I know her weight so I gave her the proper amount used for strong opiates in veterinary medicine, after doing an analgesic equivalency conversion. Sure, you might still consider it wrong, so go ahead, call me names. But when you've got a dog that barks so much while you're away, to the extent that it pisses off your neighbors, you've basically got two choices: 1) you can put it to sleep, 2) you can send it to the pound. Owners who don't give up on their pets, are forced to drug them sometimes. Which is more fair--leaving your pets all alone for XX number of hours (because you live alone and there's nothing you can do), or the choices I listed? And before somebody says: "well, you shouldn't have gotten a dog," let me just clarify that all my pets are rescue animals. and i can see it in their physical and mental health, that they are MUCH happier with me than back at the shelter (or as i like to call it "doggy jail"), which is where i originally got 'em from. And I always will. This is my ending statement.

[Mens Rea]

Err, while taking a couple things out of the fridge I accidentally spilled a piece of chocolate cake on the floor... I didn't have any paper towels so I went to go grab some, and during that time my dog ate a few bites out of it... ordinarily I wouldn't be worried about chocolate toxicology, except that this was EXTREMELY expensive baker's cake, which means that the richness of the chocolate would be a lore more potent than say, milk chocolate. I've been monitoring her for a few minutes, and I noticed some muscle spasms in her legs, so I put 1mg xanax in an Alpo canned meatball and fed it to her (I know she doesn't have an allergic reaction to this medication). I've also been feeding her canned beef mixed in with a lot of water so she doesn't get dehydrated (I read chocolate poisoning can increase frequent urination). I don't think that there could be anything the vet could do other than anything else I've tried (aside from the fluids and benzo's being given intravenously), and forced vomiting which, I'm not even sure would work at this point.

[DrYRHead]

Be careful, chocolate is bad for dogs. It can amp them up like coke or speed do to humans, and that can be hard on the dogs heart.

[Mens Rea]

Be careful, chocolate is bad for dogs. It can amp them up like coke or speed do to humans, and that can be hard on the dogs heart.

Yeah, I know; it's actually the theobromine levels in the chocolate that makes it toxic in high doses. And there's typically 10x more concentrated amount of thobromine in baker's chocolate (the rich kind) than in say, milk chocolate or M&M's or snicker's.

Luckily for me I know that dogs absorb benzodiazapenes differently than humans do; so they can actually take the relatively same dose as a 100-200lb human being (10mg diazapem for instance, or 1-2mg xanax), if they're anywhere between 25-50+lbs.