title: Nicotine increases sucrose self-administration and seeking in rats.
abstract: Associations between nicotine in cigarettes and food consumption may alter the incentive value of food such that food cue-reactivity is exaggerated during abstinence from smoking. This effect may contribute to the weight gain associated with cessation of smoking. We examined the effects of nicotine (0.4 mg/kg base subcutaneous) paired (NPD) or unpaired (NUP) with 10% sucrose self-administration (SA; 0.2 ml/delivery, 1 h/day for 10 days) on SA response rate and intake as well as sucrose cue-reactivity following either 1 or 30 days of forced abstinence. Rats were administered the training dose of nicotine prior to a second, consecutive cue-reactivity session. NPD rats responded at over three times the rate for sucrose and earned nearly twice the number of sucrose deliveries as NUP rats or saline controls. Sucrose cue-reactivity was greater after 30 days versus 1 day of forced abstinence for all groups. History of nicotine exposure had no effect on sucrose cue-reactivity. However, the subsequent injection of nicotine increased sucrose cue-reactivity only in the NPD groups. There were no abstinent-dependent effects of nicotine challenge on sucrose cue-reactivity. A study conducted in parallel with water as the reinforcer revealed a less dramatic effect of nicotine on intake. There was no history or abstinence-dependent effects of nicotine on water cue-reactivity. Nicotine increases the reinforcing effects of sucrose and sucrose-paired cues when nicotine is present. An implication of these findings is that relapse to nicotine (cigarettes) could substantially elevate food cue-reactivity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Program in Behavioral Neuroscience, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9172, USA. jeff.grimm@wwu.edu
authors.forename: Jeffrey W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Grimm
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ratliff
authors.forename: Kindsey
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: North
authors.forename: Jesse
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barnes
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Collins
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000187:drug effects; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders; D005731:Ganglionic Stimulants / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D009538:Nicotine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D013395:Sucrose / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D013549:Sweetening Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*
chemical_list: D005731:Ganglionic Stimulants; D013549:Sweetening Agents; D013395:Sucrose; D009538:Nicotine