5,7-dihydroxytryptamine lesion does not affect ethanol-induced conditioned taste and place aversion in rats.
The effect of the lesion of central serotonergic neurons by 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (5,7-DHT), on ethanol-induced taste and place aversion conditioning was studied in male Wistar rats. Control biochemical analysis revealed that 5,7-DHT (250 micrograms per rat, free base, i.c.v.) produced marked and selective depletion of serotonin (5-HT) in the hippocampal formation and the limbic forebrain complex. Ethanol-induced (1.5 g/kg, i.p.) conditioned taste aversion (CTA) to saccharin solution was unaffected by the lesion of central serotonergic neurons. The 5,7-DHT-lesioned and sham-lesioned rats showed comparable ethanol-induced CTA even 30 days after the last ethanol injection. Similarly, ethanol-induced (1.5 g/kg, i.p.) conditioned place aversion (CPA) was unaffected by 5,7-DHT administration. These results suggest that central serotonergic pathways are not primarily involved in the aversive effects of high ethanol doses in rats.
Bienkowski
P
P
Department of Pharmacology and Physiology of the Nervous System, Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Warsaw, Poland.
Iwinska
K
K
Piasecki
J
J
Kostowski
W
W
D015116:5,7-Dihydroxytryptamine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012701:Serotonin / Q000502:physiology*; D013649:Taste
D015116:5,7-Dihydroxytryptamine; D012701:Serotonin; D000431:Ethanol