Effects of cocaine on plasma catecholamine and muscle glycogen concentrations during exercise in the rat.

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that cocaine (C) alters the normal physiological responses to exercise. Male rats were injected with saline (S) or C (12.5 mg/kg) either intravenously (iv) or intraperitoneally (ip). After injection the animals were allowed to rest for 30 min or were run on the treadmill (26 m/min, 10% grade). At rest plasma epinephrine values were 245 +/- 24 pg/ml in the S group and 411 +/- 43 (ip) and 612 +/- 41 (iv) pg/ml in the C groups (P less than 0.05 between S and C). During exercise plasma epinephrine levels were 615 +/- 32 pg/ml in S and 1,316 +/- 58 (ip) and 1,208 +/- 37 (iv) pg/ml in the C groups (P less than 0.05 between S and C). Similar results were obtained for norepinephrine. Glycogen content in the white vastus lateralis muscle was reduced to 31 +/- 2 mumol/g in S after exercise, but after C and exercise the values were 12 +/- 4 (ip) and 16 +/- 3 (iv) mumol/g (P less than 0.05 between S and C). There was no effect of the drug on this parameter at rest. Blood lactate rose to 4.8 +/- 1.0 (ip) and 5.8 +/- 1.3 (iv) mM in the C groups but to only 3.0 +/- 0.2 in the S group after exercise (P less than 0.05 between S and C). These results show that C and exercise combined exert a more dramatic effect on plasma catecholamine, muscle glycogen, and blood lactate concentrations than do C and exercise alone. They provide further insight into explaining the adverse effects of C on exercise endurance observed previously (Bracken et al., J. Appl. Physiol. 66: 377-383, 1989).