Sex differences in the conditioned rewarding effects of cocaine
Autor: | Vanya Quinones-Jenab, Lynne M. Kemen, Shirzad Jenab, Eugene D. Festa, Sosimo J. Fabian, Scott J. Russo |
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Rok vydání: | 2003 |
Předmět: |
Male
medicine.medical_specialty medicine.medical_treatment chemistry.chemical_compound Blood serum Neurochemical Cocaine Reward Corticosterone Internal medicine Conditioning Psychological medicine Animals Molecular Biology Sex Characteristics Dose-Response Relationship Drug General Neuroscience Adrenalectomy Rats Inbred F344 Conditioned place preference Rats Dose–response relationship Endocrinology chemistry Female Neurology (clinical) Psychology Glucocorticoid Developmental Biology medicine.drug Sex characteristics |
Zdroj: | Brain Research. 970:214-220 |
ISSN: | 0006-8993 |
Popis: | Several recent reports have demonstrated sex differences in the behavioral and neurochemical response to cocaine. However, it is not clear whether differences exist in cocaine reward or the extent to which adrenal hormones regulate cocaine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) in either sex. To address these questions, side-by-side comparisons were conducted to determine the effects of conditioning length, cocaine dose and adrenalectomy on cocaine CPP in male and female rats. Female rats demonstrated cocaine CPP after four pairing sessions, while male rats required eight pairing sessions to develop CPP for cocaine. Also, female rats developed CPP at cocaine doses of 5 and 10 mg/kg while male rats required higher cocaine doses (20 mg/kg). Overall, females had higher blood serum levels of corticosterone. Furthermore, a dose-dependent effect on serum levels of corticosterone was observed only in female rats, where rats conditioned with 20 mg/kg cocaine had significantly higher serum levels of corticosterone than rats conditioned with 5 mg/kg cocaine. However, adrenalectomy did not affect CPP for cocaine in either sex. These results suggest that a female's higher sensitivity to cocaine's rewarding effects is not completely mediated by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Therefore, sex differences in the acquisition and/or expression of cocaine CPP may be regulated by other mechanisms, such as the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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