title: The effects of post-extinction exercise on cocaine-primed and stress-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking in rats.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Voluntary aerobic exercise has shown promise as a treatment for substance abuse, reducing relapse in cocaine-dependent people. Wheel running also attenuates drug-primed and cue-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking in rats, an animal model of relapse. However, in most of these studies, wheel access was provided throughout cocaine self-administration and/or extinction and had effects on several parameters of drug seeking. Moreover, the effects of exercise on footshock stress-induced reinstatement have not been investigated.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purposes of this study were to isolate and specifically examine the protective effect of exercise on relapse-like behavior elicited by a drug prime or stress.
  
  
  METHODS
  Rats were trained to self-administer cocaine at a stable level, followed by extinction training. Once extinction criteria were met, rats were split into exercise (24 h, continuous access to running wheel) and sedentary groups for 3 weeks, after which, drug-seeking behavior was assessed following a cocaine prime or footshock. We also measured galanin messenger RNA (mRNA) in the locus coeruleus and A2 noradrenergic nucleus.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Exercising rats ran ∼4-6 km/day, comparable to levels previously reported for rats without a history of cocaine self-administration. Post-extinction exercise significantly attenuated cocaine-primed, but not footshock stress-induced, reinstatement of cocaine seeking, and increased galanin mRNA expression in the LC but not A2.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results indicate that chronic wheel running can attenuate some forms of reinstatement, even when initiated after the cessation of cocaine self-administration, supporting the idea that voluntary exercise programs may help maintain abstinence in clinical populations.
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Graduate Program, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
authors.forename: Yvonne E
authors.initials: YE
authors.lastname: Ogbonmwan
authors.forename: Jason P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Schroeder
authors.forename: Philip V
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Holmes
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Weinshenker
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology*; D003042:Cocaine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D005108:Extinction, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D010805:Physical Conditioning, Animal / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012646:Self Administration; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*
chemical_list: D003042:Cocaine