Effects of nicotine conditioning history on alcohol and methamphetamine self-administration in rats

Smoking constitutes a significant public health risk. Alcohol and methamphetamine use disorders are also highly co-morbid with smoking, further increasing negative health outcomes. An important question in determining the underlying neurobiology of nicotine poly-drug use is understanding whether hav...

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Published in:Pharmacology, biochemistry and behavior biochemistry and behavior, 2019-04, Vol.179, p.1-8
Main Authors: Randall, Patrick A., Fortino, Brayden, Huynh, Y. Wendy, Thompson, Brady M., Larsen, Christopher E., Callen, Mackenzie P., Barrett, Scott T., Murray, Jennifer E., Bevins, Rick A., Besheer, Joyce
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Conditioning, Operant
Ethanol - administration & dosage
Female
Male
Methamphetamine - administration & dosage
Nicotine - pharmacology
Rats
Rats, Long-Evans
Self Administration
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Summary:Smoking constitutes a significant public health risk. Alcohol and methamphetamine use disorders are also highly co-morbid with smoking, further increasing negative health outcomes. An important question in determining the underlying neurobiology of nicotine poly-drug use is understanding whether having a positive history with nicotine effects alters later drug-taking behavior. The current experiments sought to elucidate whether having an appetitive nicotine conditioning history would affect later alcohol or methamphetamine self-administration. Adult male and female Long-Evans rats were first trained on a discriminated goal-tracking task in which the interoceptive effects of nicotine predicted sucrose reinforcement. As a control, pseudo-conditioned groups were included that had equated nicotine and sucrose experience. Rats were then shifted to either alcohol self-administration or methamphetamine self-administration. Nicotine conditioning history had no effect on acquisition or maintenance of alcohol self-administration in males or females. In contrast, an appetitive nicotine conditioning history decreased methamphetamine self-administration in female rats, but not males. In female, but not male, rats, an appetitive conditioning history with nicotine decreases methamphetamine, but not alcohol, self-administration. This dissociation suggests that the effects may be due to a specific increase in the reinforcing value of methamphetamine. This may have implications for better understanding the progression of drug use from nicotine to methamphetamine. •Nicotine gains control over reward-seeking behavior in both male and female rats.•Nicotine conditioning history does not affect alcohol self-administration.•Nicotine conditioning history decreases methamphetamine SA in female rats.•Conditioning history, not simply nicotine exposure, affects reward-seeking.
ISSN:0091-3057
1873-5177
DOI:10.1016/j.pbb.2019.01.005