Vulnerability factors for mephedrone-induced conditioned place preference in rats—the impact of sex differences, social-conditioning and stress
Autor: | Anna Boguszewska-Czubara, Maria Zykubek, Łukasz Kurach, Agnieszka Michalak, Olga Wronikowska, Barbara Budzyńska |
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Rok vydání: | 2021 |
Předmět: |
Male
Conditioning Classical Hippocampus Pharmacology Social interactions Stress Methamphetamine 03 medical and health sciences chemistry.chemical_compound 0302 clinical medicine Mephedrone Reward Corticosterone medicine Animals Rats Wistar Social factor Prefrontal cortex Social conditioning Original Investigation Sex Characteristics business.industry Vulnerability factors Conditioned place preference Rats 030227 psychiatry chemistry Female Sex business 030217 neurology & neurosurgery medicine.drug |
Zdroj: | Psychopharmacology |
ISSN: | 1432-2072 0033-3158 |
Popis: | Rationale Mephedrone is a frequently overused drug of abuse that belongs to the group of novel psychoactive substances. Although its mechanism of action, as well as toxic and psychoactive effects, has been widely studied, the role of different factors that could contribute to the increased vulnerability to mephedrone abuse is still poorly understood. Objectives The aim of the presented study was to assess the impact of several factors (sex differences, social-conditioning, and chronic mild unpredictable stress — CMUS) on the liability to mephedrone-induced reward in Wistar rats. Methods The rewarding effects of mephedrone in male and female rats were assessed using the conditioned place preference (CPP) procedure. Furthermore, the impact of social factor and stress was evaluated in male rats using social-CPP and CMUS-dependent CPP, respectively. Results Mephedrone induced classic-CPP in female (10 mg/kg), as well as in male (10 and 20 mg/kg) rats. However, the impact of mephedrone treatment during social-CPP was highly dose-dependent as the rewarding effects of low dose of mephedrone (5 mg/kg; non-active in classic-CPP) were potentiated when administered during social-conditioning. Interestingly, social-conditioning with a higher dose of 20 mg/kg (that induced classic-CPP) was able to reverse these effects. Finally, CMUS potentiated rewarding effects of a low dose of mephedrone (5 mg/kg) and increased the level of corticosterone in rats’ prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. Conclusions Altogether, the presented results give new insight into possible factors underlying the vulnerability to mephedrone abuse and can serve as a basis for further studies assessing mechanisms underlying observed effects. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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