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Background: Psychotic states related to psychostimulant misuse in patients with hepatitis C virus infection may complicate acceptance and reaction to antiviral treatment. This observation equally applies to the widely used ribavirin therapy., Objective: We examined psychomotor and body weight gain responses to low ribavirin doses after cessation of intermittent amphetamine treatment in adult rats to assess its role in neurobehavioral outcome during psychostimulant withdrawal., Method: The model of amphetamine-induced (1.5 mg/kg/day, i.p., 7 consecutive days) motor sensitization and affected body weight gain was established in adult male Wistar rats. Then, additional cohort of amphetaminesensitized rats was subjected to saline (0.9% NaCl; 1 mL/kg/day; i.p.) or ribavirin (10, 20 and 30 mg/kg/day, i.p.) treatment for 7 consecutive days. Animals' motor activity in a novel environment was monitored after the 1st and the 7th saline/ribavirin injection. Body weight gain was calculated as appropriate. Determination and quantification of ribavirin in the brain tissue were performed also., Results: The 1st application of ribavirin to amphetamine-sensitized rats affected/decreased their novelty-induced motor activity only at a dose of 30 mg/kg. After the 7th application, ribavirin 30 mg/kg/day still decreased, while 10 and 20 mg/kg/day increased novelty-induced motor activity. These behavioral effects coincided with the time required to reach maximum ribavirin concentration in the brain. Body weight gain during withdrawal was not influenced by any of the doses tested., Conclusion: Ribavirin displays central effects that in repeated treatment, depending on the applied dose, could significantly influence psychomotor response but not body weight gain during psychostimulant/amphetamine withdrawal., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

Substance-use disorder represents a frequently hidden non-communicable chronic disease. Patients with intravenous drug addiction are at high risk of direct exposure to a variety of viral infections and are considered to be the largest subpopulation infected with the hepatitis C virus. Ribavirin is a synthetic nucleoside analog that has been used as an integral component of hepatitis C therapy. However, ribavirin medication is quite often associated with pronounced psychiatric adverse effects. It is not well understood to what extent ribavirin per se contributes to changes in drug-related neurobehavioral disturbances, especially in the case of psychostimulant drugs, such as amphetamine. It is now well-known that repeated amphetamine usage produces psychosis in humans and behavioral sensitization in animals. On the other hand, ribavirin has an affinity for adenosine A1 receptors that antagonistically modulate the activity of dopamine D1 receptors, which play a critical role in the development of behavioral sensitization. This review will focus on the current knowledge of neurochemical/ neurobiological changes that exist in the psychostimulant drug-addicted brain itself and the antipsychotic-like efficiency of adenosine agonists. Particular attention will be paid to the potential side effects of ribavirin therapy, and the opportunities and challenges related to its application in already existing psychostimulant-use disorder., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)