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Effect of Ambient Temperature on the Thermoregulatory and Locomotor Stimulant Effects of 4-Methylmethcathinone in Wistar and Sprague-Dawley Rats

Overview of attention for article published in PLOS ONE, August 2012
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 25% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (89th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (86th percentile)

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blogs
1 blog
policy
1 policy source
twitter
3 X users

Citations

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94 Dimensions

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58 Mendeley
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Title
Effect of Ambient Temperature on the Thermoregulatory and Locomotor Stimulant Effects of 4-Methylmethcathinone in Wistar and Sprague-Dawley Rats
Published in
PLOS ONE, August 2012
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0044652
Pubmed ID
Authors

M. Jerry Wright, Deepshikha Angrish, Shawn M. Aarde, Deborah J. Barlow, Matthew W. Buczynski, Kevin M. Creehan, Sophia A. Vandewater, Loren H. Parsons, Karen L. Houseknecht, Tobin J. Dickerson, Michael A. Taffe

Abstract

The drug 4-methylmethcathinone (4-MMC; aka, mephedrone, MMCAT, "plant food", "bath salts") is a recent addition to the list of popular recreational psychomotor-stimulant compounds. Relatively little information about this drug is available in the scientific literature, but popular media reports have driven recent drug control actions in the UK and several US States. Online user reports of subjective similarity to 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, "Ecstasy") prompted the current investigation of the thermoregulatory and locomotor effects of 4-MMC. Male Wistar and Sprague-Dawley rats were monitored after subcutaneous administration of 4-MMC (1-10 mg/kg ) using an implantable radiotelemetry system under conditions of low (23°C) and high (27°C) ambient temperature. A reliable reduction of body temperature was produced by 4-MMC in Wistar rats at 23°C or 27°C with only minimal effect in Sprague-Dawley rats. Increased locomotor activity was observed after 4-MMC administration in both strains with significantly more activity produced in the Sprague-Dawley strain. The 10 mg/kg s.c. dose evoked greater increase in extracellular serotonin, compared with dopamine, in the nucleus accumbens. Follow-up studies confirmed that the degree of locomotor stimulation produced by 10 mg/kg 4-MMC was nearly identical to that produced by 1 mg/kg d-methamphetamine in each strain. Furthermore, hypothermia produced by the serotonin 1(A/7) receptor agonist 8-hydroxy-N,N-dipropyl-2-aminotetralin (8-OH-DPAT) was similar in each strain. These results show that the cathinone analog 4-MMC exhibits thermoregulatory and locomotor properties that are distinct from those established for methamphetamine or MDMA in prior work, despite recent evidence of neuropharmacological similarity with MDMA.

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X Demographics

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 58 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Mexico 1 2%
United States 1 2%
Unknown 56 97%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Bachelor 9 16%
Student > Master 7 12%
Student > Ph. D. Student 7 12%
Professor > Associate Professor 6 10%
Other 5 9%
Other 11 19%
Unknown 13 22%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 13 22%
Neuroscience 7 12%
Chemistry 6 10%
Medicine and Dentistry 6 10%
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science 4 7%
Other 5 9%
Unknown 17 29%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 12. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 17 March 2022.
All research outputs
#2,917,828
of 24,739,153 outputs
Outputs from PLOS ONE
#36,046
of 214,155 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#19,093
of 176,610 outputs
Outputs of similar age from PLOS ONE
#613
of 4,391 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 24,739,153 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 88th percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 214,155 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 15.6. This one has done well, scoring higher than 83% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 176,610 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 89% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 4,391 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 86% of its contemporaries.