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Pre-exposure to alcohol does not sensitize to the rewarding effects of cocaine
G Le Pen1, D Duterte-Boucher, M Daoust
1Unité de Neuropsychopharmacologie Expérimentale, UPRESA 6036 du CNRS, Institut Fédératif de Recherche Multidisciplinaire sur les Peptides, Faculté de Médecine et de Pharmacie de Rouen, Saint Etienne du Rouvray, France.
Abstract:
The conditioned place preference (CPP) induced by cocaine 2.5 mg/kg was measured in rats pre-exposed to ethanol (14 days with only 10% v/v ethanol followed by a free choice between ethanol solution and water for 14 days). Rats were divided according to their alcohol intake during the free choice period into low-drinking (<3 g/kg per day), intermediate-drinking and high-drinking (> 4 g/kg per day) rats. Cocaine-induced CPP was not modified in high-drinking rats relative to controls. Low-drinking rats had a lower CPP than high-drinking rats and controls. We conclude that pre-exposure to alcohol did not sensitize to the cocaine rewarding effects, and that alcohol low-drinking rats showed the lowest preference for cocaine.