Neonatal exposure to cocaine enhances the reward-potentiating properties of the drug in young adult animals.
Either cocaine (20 mg/kg) or saline vehicle was administered to rat pups once daily on postnatal days 1-8. The enhancement of brain stimulation reward (BSR) by acute administration of cocaine (2.5, 5, and 10 mg/kg i.p.) was assessed in adult offspring (70-90 days of age) using a rate-frequency curve-shift paradigm. Acute administration of cocaine produced orderly dose-related shifts of the rate-frequency function toward lower frequencies in all groups indicating a reward-enhancing effect of the drug on BSR. However, offspring neonatally exposed to cocaine displayed a greater drug-induced potentiation of BSR. Of particular note, the small but significant enhancement of the reward-potentiating properties of cocaine was more pronounced in female offspring neonatally exposed to the drug. These findings indicate that the rewarding properties of cocaine were altered by neonatal exposure to the drug in a sexually dimorphic fashion.
Lin
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Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, USA.
Kellogg
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CK
D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003042:Cocaine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D005260:Female; D007026:Hypothalamic Area, Lateral / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D008474:Medial Forebrain Bundle / Q000187:drug effects; D009042:Motivation; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D051381:Rats; D012653:Self Stimulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D012737:Sex Factors
D003042:Cocaine