title: Aversive properties of bombesin in rats.
abstract: Aversive properties of bombesin were determined in the conditioned place-preference paradigm in rats and compared with the effects on spontaneous behavior. Bombesin induced excessive grooming and/or scratching behavior at doses of 80 ng, 400 ng, and 2.0 micrograms ICV. In the conditioned place-preference paradigm, doses of 400 ng and 2.0 micrograms ICV induced a profound aversion to the environment in which the animals had received peptide treatment. Eighty ng were partially effective, and 16 ng did not induce a significant change in preference. The grooming/scratching behavior was attenuated by pretreatment with 4 mg/kg morphine-sulfate. These results show that bombesin is strongly aversive at doses that induce grooming/scratching behavior. Although the relationship between these different effects is not known, the similarity in their dose-response relationship suggests that they may be mediated by a common mechanism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Ross University School of Medicine, Commonwealth of Dominica, West Indies.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Meisenberg
authors.forename: W H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Simmons
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Lorens
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D001839:Bombesin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006120:Grooming / Q000187:drug effects; D007276:Injections, Intraventricular; D008297:Male; D009020:Morphine / Q000494:pharmacology; D009619:Nociceptors / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
chemical_list: D009020:Morphine; D001839:Bombesin