Effects of acute intravenous cocaine on cardiovascular function, human learning, and performance in cocaine addicts

Abstract

Continuous non-invasive cardiovascular monitoring in eight healthy cocaine addicts receiving intravenous cocaine (0.325 mg/kg or 0.650 mg/kg) or placebo in double-blind, randomized, cross-over fashion demonstrated significant dose-dependent increases in pulse and mean arterial pressure following cocaine. Pulse and mean arterial pressure peaked 5 min post-cocaine injection and maximal response was sustained for a further 15 min and 35 min afterwards, respectively. Cocaine administration had no significant effect on peripheral oxygen saturation, and no clinically significant abnormalities of rhythm or conduction were seen on the electrocardiogram. These doses and method of single-dose intravenous cocaine administration, and our procedures for cardiovascular monitoring, appear relatively safe for laboratory studies of healthy cocaine addicts with no pre-existing cardiovascular disease. In addition, cocaine-taking (0.325 mg/kg i.v. and 0.650 mg/kg i.v.) was associated with enhanced attention (i.e. increased numbers of correct responses on the Rapid Visual Information Processing Task), but the trend towards reduced reaction time did not achieve statistical significance. Cocaine-taking resulted in a small but statistically insignificant improvement in learning on the Digit Symbol Substitution Task. These results suggest that cocaine-taking in rested subjects is associated with some cognitive enhancement.