title: Acamprosate attenuates cue-induced reinstatement of nicotine-seeking behavior in rats.
abstract: Acamprosate is used in the treatment of alcoholism; however, there is little information on its effects on nicotine addiction. The objective of this study was to determine whether acamprosate inhibits cue-induced relapse to nicotine self-administration in the rat. Rats were trained to press a lever to obtain intravenous infusions of nicotine (0.03 mg/kg/infusion) that were associated with the illumination of a cue light. After 29 days of nicotine self-administration sessions, extinction sessions were run during which responses on the active lever did not result in the infusion of nicotine or the illumination of the cue light. After 14 days of extinction sessions the rats received twice-daily injections of saline or acamprosate (50, 100, or 200 mg/kg/intraperitoneally). Seven days later the response to the previously conditioned cue was tested, but only saline infusions were delivered. Pretreatment with all doses of acamprosate reduced responding to a cue previously associated with nicotine. The lowest dose of acamprosate (50 mg/kg) reduced responding for the cue previously associated with nicotine infusions, but had no effect on food-rewarded behavior. These results show that acamprosate reduced cue-induced nicotine-seeking behavior and suggest that acamprosate might be efficacious in treating nicotine addiction in humans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90048, USA. pechnickr@cshs.org
authors.forename: Robert N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Pechnick
authors.forename: Charlene M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Manalo
authors.forename: Liliana M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Lacayo
authors.forename: Jean-Philippe
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Vit
authors.forename: Yasmin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bholat
authors.forename: Inna
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Spivak
authors.forename: Kevin C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Reyes
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Farrokhi
mesh_terms: D000077443:Acamprosate; D000818:Animals; D003463:Cues; D058999:Drug-Seeking Behavior / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D009538:Nicotine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000502:physiology; D012646:Self Administration; D013654:Taurine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D013654:Taurine; D009538:Nicotine; D000077443:Acamprosate