title: Juvenile and adult rats differ in cocaine reward and expression of zif268 in the forebrain.
abstract: Adolescents are more likely to experiment with and become addicted to drugs of abuse. A number of studies indicate that the developmental forebrain may be responsible for making adolescents vulnerable to the addictive properties of such drugs. The aim of this study was to first compare behavioral responses to novelty and cocaine between juvenile and adult rats and then compare levels of the immediate-early gene zif268 activation in several forebrain areas via in situ hybridization. We found that juveniles demonstrated higher locomotion scores and required a higher dose of cocaine than adults to establish a conditioned place preference. Additionally, at this higher dose, juvenile rats exhibited higher levels of zif268 mRNA in the prefrontal cortex compared with adults. A developmental effect for increased zif268 mRNA was also observed in the striatum and nucleus accumbens, but there was no interaction with the cocaine dose. These findings hold interesting implications for the study of the molecular mechanisms underlying juvenile drug addiction.
authors: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Florida State University College of Medicine, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA.
authors: F
authors: F
authors: Hollis
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Gaval-Cruz
authors: N
authors: N
authors: Carrier
authors: D M
authors: DM
authors: Dietz
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Kabbaj
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D003042:Cocaine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D018765:Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D051766:Early Growth Response Protein 1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D008124:Locomotion / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D016548:Prosencephalon / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012201:Reward
chemical_list: D018765:Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors; D051766:Early Growth Response Protein 1; C486110:Egr1 protein, rat; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D003042:Cocaine