Rewarding properties of testosterone in intact male mice: a pilot study

The present study examined the rewarding properties of 4-androsten-17beta-ol-3-one testosterone in intact male mice using the conditioned place preference (CPP) technique. In Experiment 1, the pharmacokinetics of 0.8 and 1.2 mg/kg of testosterone were studied to determine the most appropriate temporal interval to test behavior. Additionally, the locomotor activity was recorded to control a possible interfering effect on CPP. The maximum testosterone concentration was registered at 45 min of administration, and no effects on activity were found. In Experiment 2, three groups of male OF-1 mice received four pairings of the least-preferred compartment with testosterone (0.8, 1, or 1.2 mg/kg, SC) for 30 min. On alternate days the preferred compartment was paired with vehicle for 30 min. The control group received vehicle in both compartments. No significant differences between groups were found in the time spent in the drug-paired compartment. However, when separate analyses were performed in conjunction with the color of the drug-paired compartment. CPP was observed only in animals pairing testosterone/black compartment. These results suggest that rewarding properties of testosterone treatment can be observed in male mice; these effects probably being dependent on the environmental cues used as conditioned stimuli.