Abstract
Concomitant access to drugs of abuse and alternative rewards such as sucrose has been shown to decrease addiction-related behaviors in animals. Here we investigated whether access to sucrose during abstinence in contexts that are temporally and physically distinct from drug-related contexts could reduce subsequent drug seeking. In addition, we investigated whether a history of cocaine self-administration would alter the rewarding effects of sucrose. Rats self-administered cocaine for ten sessions, while yoked-saline rats received only saline injections, and then we subjected them to a 30-day withdrawal period during which they had access to water and sucrose continuously or intermittently according to a schedule that induces binge-drinking behavior. At the end of the withdrawal period, rats were tested for cocaine seeking behavior during a single 6 h session. We found that exposure to cocaine increased sucrose consumption only when rats had intermittent access to sucrose, but exposure to sucrose did not alter drug seeking regardless of the schedule of access. These results suggest that exposure to cocaine cross-sensitizes to the rewarding effects of sucrose, but exposure to sucrose during abstinence, temporally and physically distinct from drug-related environments, does not to reduce drug seeking.
Highlights
Schedules of sucrose access to alter cocaine seeking
One group had access to two bottles of water (WAT), one group had a continuous access to one bottle of water and one bottle of sucrose (ContS) and one group had an intermittent access to water or sucrose (IntS) according to the protocol developed by Hoebel and collaborators[27,28]
Our primary aim was to investigate whether a chronic exposure to sucrose would reduce cocaine seeking in rats in a relapse model and our secondary aim was to investigate whether a history of cocaine self-administration would alter the rewarding effect of sucrose
Summary
Schedules of sucrose access (a continuous access more associated with tolerance and intermittent access associated with sensitization of the reward pathway and binge-like behavior) to alter cocaine seeking. Exposure to drugs may sensitize animals to sucrose rewarding effects leading to excessive consumption of sucrose when sucrose is available intermittently[32]. A secondary aim of this study was to monitor consumption of sweet solutions during different phases of abstinence to investigate whether withdrawal from cocaine is associated with anhedonia or sensitization of sucrose, as well as the evolution of such a phenomenon over the course of the withdrawal period. First, rats were allowed to self-administer cocaine and were exposed to water or sucrose for 30 days of forced abstinence (see Fig. 1, for schematic representation of the experimental design). After 30 days of withdrawal, rats were tested for cocaine seeking during a 6 h session in an animal model of relapse[22]
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