Appel J B, Cunningham K A, West K B
Prog Clin Biol Res. 1985;192:51-62.
Monoaminergic neuronal systems have been implicated in the mechanisms of action of most ergot derivatives (including those that are clinically useful and those that are "hallucinogenic"). Among the various assays that have been useful in determining the extent of such involvement is drug discrimination. In this procedure, animals are trained to respond in one way (e.g., press the right lever) following saline and to respond differently (e.g., press the left lever) after either a particular ergot or a neurotransmitter agonist, and are subsequently tested with other ergots, transmitter agonists or antagonists (alone or in combination with the training drug). The results to date indicate that: 1) There are similarities in the discriminable effects of lergotrile, lisuride and bromocriptine, which probably involve catecholaminergic neuronal systems (DA or NE). 2) These effects are clearly separable from those of ergonovine and LSD, which may be relatively more serotonergic. More precise delineation of the mechanisms underlying these cues (e.g., D1, D2-selective agonism, antagonism, etc.) awaits further testing with highly specific pharmacological interventions.
单胺能神经元系统与大多数麦角衍生物（包括那些具有临床效用的以及那些“致幻性”的衍生物）的作用机制有关。在确定这种关联程度的各种试验中，药物辨别是其中一种有用的方法。在此过程中，训练动物在注射生理盐水后以一种方式做出反应（例如，按压右侧杠杆），而在注射特定麦角或神经递质激动剂后以不同方式做出反应（例如，按压左侧杠杆），随后用其他麦角、递质激动剂或拮抗剂（单独或与训练药物联合使用）对其进行测试。迄今为止的结果表明：1）麦角腈、利舒脲和溴隐亭的可辨别效应存在相似性，这可能涉及儿茶酚胺能神经元系统（多巴胺或去甲肾上腺素）。2）这些效应与麦角新碱和麦角酸二乙酰胺的效应明显不同，后者可能相对更具5-羟色胺能。对这些线索背后机制（例如，D1、D2选择性激动、拮抗等）的更精确描述有待通过高度特异性的药理学干预进行进一步测试。
