Abstract
Maladaptation of reward processing for natural rewards, such as sucrose or sugar, may play a role in the development of diseases such as obesity and diabetes. Furthermore, uncovering mechanisms to disrupt or reverse maladaptation of reward-seeking behaviors for natural reinforcers can provide insight into treatment of such diseases, as well as disorders such as addiction. As such, studying the effects of potential pharmacotherapeutics on maladaptive sugar-seeking behavior offers valuable clinical significance. Sucrose conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigms can offer insight into aspects of reward processes as it provides a way to assess acquisition and expression of context-reward associations. The present study examined the effect of peripheral oxytocin injections on sucrose CPP in rats. Oxytocin, when administered prior to CPP test, attenuated expression of sucrose CPP. However, oxytocin, when administered during sucrose conditioning, did not affect subsequent place preference. These findings suggest oxytocin sufficiently attenuates expression of sucrose-associated place preference.
Highlights
Overconsumption of sugar has been shown to lead to a myriad of diseases
(M = 58.22, SD = 9.54; p < 0.01) treated animals but no significant difference between both groups in baseline preference (OXY: M = 26.85, SD = 12.35; VEH: M = 27.33, SD = 9.12; n.s.). These results suggest that OXY treated animals displayed attenuated expression of sucrose-associated place preference relative to VEH treated animals at test (Figure 2A)
The present study demonstrates that sucrose conditioned place preference was successfully acquired in animals that received sucrose-pairings in a specific context and that peripheral administration of oxytocin significantly disrupted expression of conditioned place preference when administered before the test
Summary
Overconsumption of sugar has been shown to lead to a myriad of diseases. Excess sugar can lead to an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes (Stanhope, 2016). This excessive consumption promotes obesity and increases visceral fat volume, which is associated with risk factors for metabolic disease (Carr et al, 2004). The fact that a wide variety of foods contain added sugar perpetuates the issue. While numerous studies have examined potential therapeutic targets for the treatment of drug-related behaviors and addiction, relatively few studies have examined therapeutic targets that modulate reward behaviors related to natural reinforcers. The present study aimed to examine the effect of a potential therapeutic target, oxytocin, on sucrose-associated place preference behavior
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