Novel environmental response and heroin-dependent susceptibility in Sprague-Dawley rats.
OBJECTIVE
To establish models of different susceptibility of heroin-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) in rats and investigate the relation between novel environmental response and heroin-dependent susceptibility.


METHODS
After an open-field test, 70 male Sprague-Dawley rats were classified into 2 groups according to the numerical value of heroin-induced CPP, each accounting for 30%. The correlation between open-field test and CPP was analyzed.


RESULTS
CPP value was much higher than pre-test scores in the rats after exposure to heroin (P<0.01). Compared with the low-CPP group, the high-CPP group had much higher scores in open-field test (P<0.01). The deviation of resident time at natural preference side tested and pre-tested had positive correlation with open-field test (P<0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Heroin-induced CPP model of different susceptibilities could be successfully established by chronic heroin exposure. The novel environmental response is a reliable predictor for its vulnerability to develop heroin dependence.
Mental Health Institute, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410011, China.
Chuansheng
C
Wang
Hongxian
H
Chen
Wei
W
Hao
D000818:Animals; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004198:Disease Susceptibility / Q000523:psychology*; D004777:Environment; D006556:Heroin Dependence / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012931:Social Environment