title: Nicotine-induced enhancement of Pavlovian alcohol-seeking behavior in rats.
abstract: Nicotine enhances responding elicited by Pavlovian cues that predict positive outcomes.
  
  
  
  We tested the hypothesis that nicotine acting at nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) would augment Pavlovian alcohol-seeking.
  
  
  
  Male, Long-Evans rats with unrestricted access to food and water were acclimated to drinking 15% ethanol in their home cages and then given Pavlovian conditioning sessions in which each trial of a 15-s conditioned stimulus (CS, 12 trials/session) was paired with 0.2 ml of ethanol (unconditioned stimulus, US, 2.4 ml/session). Entries into a port where ethanol was delivered were used to assess conditioning. Control groups received explicitly unpaired trials of the CS and US. In experiment 1, systemic injections of saline (1 ml/kg) or nicotine (0.4 mg/kg, freebase) were administered before each session. In experiments 2 and 3, an identical regimen of saline or nicotine injections was administered before the start of Pavlovian conditioning sessions.
  
  
  
  All paired groups acquired conditioned port-entry responding to the CS, indicative of Pavlovian alcohol-seeking, whereas unpaired control group did not. Pre-session nicotine injections increased CS port-entries relative to saline, only in the paired group. This nicotine-induced enhancement of Pavlovian alcohol-seeking was blocked by pre-treatment with the nAChR antagonist mecamylamine. Prior exposure to nicotine did not influence the subsequent acquisition of Pavlovian alcohol-seeking.
  
  
  
  These findings highlight for the first time that nicotine acting at nAChRs augments Pavlovian alcohol-seeking, specifically in non-restricted rats. Individuals who smoke and drink may thus be particularly susceptible to alcohol cues that could trigger further drinking.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology/FRQS Groupe de recherche en neurobiologie comportementale, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, Room SP 244, Montreal, QC, H4B-1R6, Canada.
authors.forename: Jean-Marie N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Maddux
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology/FRQS Groupe de recherche en neurobiologie comportementale, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, Room SP 244, Montreal, QC, H4B-1R6, Canada. nadia.chaudhri@concordia.ca.
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chaudhri
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D000818:Animals; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000187:drug effects*; D003463:Cues; D058999:Drug-Seeking Behavior / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D008464:Mecamylamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D009538:Nicotine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018722:Nicotinic Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D018733:Nicotinic Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018722:Nicotinic Agonists; D018733:Nicotinic Antagonists; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic; D008464:Mecamylamine; D009538:Nicotine
keywords: Ethanol; Goal-tracking; Mecamylamine; Pavlovian conditioned approach