Effects of phencyclidine and its analogs on the end-plate current of the neuromuscular junction.

The interactions of the hallucinogenic drug PCP [1-(1-phenylcyclohexyl)piperidine] and some of its analogs with the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor-ionic channel complex were studied using electrophysiological techniques. The peak amplitude and the decay time constant of the nerve-evoked end-plate current (EPCs) recorded from the frog sartorius muscle were reduced by all the analogs in a concentration-dependent manner (IC50 between 5 and 90 microM). PCP, TCP [1-[1-(2-thienyl)cyclohexyl]-piperidine] and PCE (N-ethyl-1-phenylcyclohexylamine), among other analogs, caused a negative slope conductance in the current-voltage relationship at hyperpolarized potentials and a voltage- and time-dependent depression of the peak amplitude of the EPC. When the piperidine ring of the PCP molecule was substituted by a morpholino ring, as in 1-(1-phenylcyclohexyl)morpholine and 1-[1-(2-thienyl)-cyclohexyl]morpholine, the potency decreased and the negative conductance was eliminated. The removal of the piperidine ring of PCP in 1-phenylcyclohexylamine and the hydroxylation of the cyclohexane ring in 4-phenyl-4-piperidino-cyclohexanol reduced the potency and produced double exponential decays at potentials between +50 and -50 mV. At -100 mV, the potency for decreasing peak EPC amplitude was well correlated with the potency for reducing the decay time constant for all the analogs. The voltage- and time-dependent depression of the EPC amplitude was reduced by substitution of a morpholino ring and by the elimination of the piperidine ring of PCP. The behaviorally active analogs were the most potent EPC blockers, which suggests a synaptic role for the production of depressant behavioral effects observed with PCP.