A test of conditioned taste aversion with mouse interferon-alpha.
Interferon-alpha treatment induces anorexia in cancer patients and in mice. The ability of interferon-alpha to induce a conditioned taste aversion (CTA) in mice was explored. Mice were injected with doses of interferon-alpha that had been shown to induce anorexia (M. A. Segall & L. S. Crnic, Behav. Neurosci., 1990; 1600 or 800 U/g of mouse) after being given a novel solution (chocolate milk). Neither dose of interferon resulted in a decrease of milk intake on the test day. To determine whether the known cognitive effects of interferon interfere with the ability of a mouse to learn CTA, a combined injection of interferon-alpha and LiCl (an illness-inducing agent) was given. The combination of interferon-alpha with LiCl did not interfere with the LiCl-induced CTA. Thus, any possible cognitive effects of interferon did not interfere with conditioned taste aversion. To test the possibility that repeated trials might establish a conditioned taste aversion to interferon, mice were given three conditioning trials spaced 3 days apart. No aversion developed. Doses of interferon-alpha that produce anorexia do not produce a conditioned taste aversion, indicating that separate mechanisms are activated in these two behaviors.
Segall
M A
MA
University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver 80262.
Crnic
L S
LS
D000818:Animals; D000855:Anorexia / Q000139:chemically induced; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D002099:Cacao; D002712:Chlorides / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D004327:Drinking Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D007370:Interferon Type I / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000633:toxicity; D008094:Lithium / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity; D018021:Lithium Chloride; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008811:Mice, Inbred DBA; D013649:Taste
D002712:Chlorides; D007370:Interferon Type I; D008094:Lithium; D018021:Lithium Chloride