Estrogens are Necessary for Expression of Cocaine Seeking in Male Rats

Abstract

It has been shown that, in female rats, estrogen is needed for the extinction of the cocaine‐seeking behavior. In this study, we are looking for the reduction of the cocaine‐seeking behavior by administrating Fadroloze (FAD) to inhibit the estrogens in male rats. We hypothesize that inhibiting estrogens in males, will show reduced expression, impaired extinction and reduced reinstatement in the cocaine‐seeking. To study the expression, extinction and reinstatement we performed the CPP paradigm. During conditioning animals were injected with cocaine 10mg/kg and confined to one side of the chamber for 20 min, or injected with saline and confined to the other side of the chamber for 20 min. In the extinction sessions, the animals are divided in two groups, one group received Fadrozole and the other received vehicle (saline) daily for 8 days. In the extinction CPP test the animals have access to both chambers for 30 min in daily sessions. The group that was given FAD show a significant reduction in the cocaine seeking compared with the vehicle group. These findings show that estrogen is needed for the cocaine‐seeking behavior and may be important in the extinction of the cocaine seeking in males. Learning how estrogen affects the cocaine seeking, extinction and reinstatement.Support or Funding InformationThis study was supported by UPR‐PRISE NIH R2GM096955, and by National Institutes of Health R01 DA038042.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.