Can early protein malnutrition facilitate cocaine relapse?

GARAVAGNO M.A.; VALDOMERO A.; PERONDI M.C.; TORTONI G.; CUADRA G.

Huerta Grande, Córdoba

Congreso; XXVIII Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigaciones en Neurociencias; 2013

Sociedad Argentina de Investigaciones en Neurociencias (SAN)

Previously we demonstrated that perinatal protein deprivation increases the rewarding effects of cocaine, and facilitates the development of behavioral sensitization to this drug. This study evaluated if the increased reactivity evidenced in deprived (D) versus control (C) rats is also evident during the reinstatement of conditioned place preference (CPP), a useful animal model to study relapse. In order to assess the reinstatement of a cocaine-induced CPP, different groups of C- and D- rats were submitted to 4 conditioning sessions with cocaine (10 mg/kg, i.p.). In order to induce extinction, following the CPP test, animals were paired with saline for 3 or 4 days. Three days of extinction training did not induce CPP extinction. After 4 days of training, both groups of rats showed a significant decrease in the time spent in the drug-paired compartment. The day after the extinction test, rats received a priming injection of cocaine (2.5 or 5 mg/kg) to analyze if cocaine-induced CPP could be reinstated. Only D-rats showed reinstatement of preference for the drug-paired context after a priming injection with the lowest dose of cocaine used (2.5 mg/kg). Furthermore, CPP could be reinstated with 5 mg/kg of cocaine in both C- and D- groups. These preliminary results extend previous reports from our lab that clearly demonstrate that early nutritional insult during early life brings about alterations in the rewarding neural circuits that modify the reactivity to drugs of abuse.