title: Oxytocin decreases cocaine taking, cocaine seeking, and locomotor activity in female rats.
abstract: Oxytocin has been shown to decrease cocaine taking and seeking in male rats, suggesting potential treatment efficacy for drug addiction. In the present study, we extended these findings to the assessment of cocaine seeking and taking in female rats. Further, we made direct comparisons of oxytocin's impact on cocaine induced locomotor activity in both males and females. In females, systemic oxytocin (0.3, 1.0, 3.0 mg/kg) attenuated lever pressing for cocaine during self-administration and oxytocin (1.0 mg/kg) attenuated cue-induced cocaine seeking following extinction. Cocaine increased baseline locomotor activity to a greater degree in females relative to males. Oxytocin (0.1, 0.3, 1.0, and 3.0 mg/kg) reduced cocaine-induced locomotor activity in females, but not significantly in males. These data illustrate sex similarities in oxytocin's attenuation of cocaine seeking, but sex differences in cocaine-induced locomotor effects. While reductions in cocaine seeking cannot be attributed to a reduction in locomotor activity in males, attenuation of locomotor function cannot be entirely ruled out as an explanation for a decrease in cocaine seeking in females suggesting that oxytocin's effect on cocaine seeking may be mediated by different mechanisms in male and females.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences.
authors.forename: Kah-Chung
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Leong
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences.
authors.forename: Luyi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences.
authors.forename: Shannon M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Ghee
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: Ronald E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: See
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences.
authors.forename: Carmela M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Reichel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003042:Cocaine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003463:Cues; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D058999:Drug-Seeking Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D008124:Locomotion / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012646:Self Administration; D012737:Sex Factors
chemical_list: D010121:Oxytocin; D003042:Cocaine