Abstract
Rationale
We have previously described a model in which adult outbred male Sprague–Dawley rats are classified as either low or high cocaine responders (LCRs or HCRs, respectively) based on acute cocaine-induced open-field activation. This model revealed important individual differences in cocaine's effects, including that LCRs exhibited greater responding than HCRs on a progressive ratio schedule of cocaine reinforcement. However, no LCR/HCR differences in acquisition of cocaine self-administration (0.25 mg/kg/12 s infusion) were observed under these conditions.
Objectives
To determine if LCRs and HCRs differ in the effectiveness of cocaine to function as a reinforcer under a broader range of conditions, the present study assessed the acquisition of cocaine self-administration (fixed ratio 1 schedule of reinforcement) as a function of i.v. cocaine dose (0.1875, 0.375, 0.5, 1, or 1.5 mg/kg/6 s infusion).
Results
LCRs and HCRs did not differ significantly on any measure of acquisition examined, including the day to meet acquisition criterion, percent acquired, and cocaine intake. The effect of dose on percent acquired and rate of acquisition peaked at the 1-mg/kg/infusion dose of cocaine. In contrast, the effect of dose on cocaine intake was linear, with the highest rate of intake occurring at the 1.5-mg/kg/infusion dose of cocaine.
Conclusions
LCRs and HCRs do not appear to differ in their acquisition of cocaine-reinforced operant responding across a range of cocaine doses, including conditions that lead to high levels of cocaine intake.
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Acknowledgment
This work and the authors were supported by NIH Grants R01 DA004216 and K05 DA015050. We would like to thank Emily Gomez, Jillian Laggart, Kari Massar, Merissa Pickell, and Alyssa Schickedanz for their dedicated help with data collection.
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The authors have no conflict of interest to disclose.
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An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00213-012-2669-1.
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Mandt, B.H., Johnston, N.L., Zahniser, N.R. et al. Acquisition of cocaine self-administration in male Sprague–Dawley rats: effects of cocaine dose but not initial locomotor response to cocaine. Psychopharmacology 219, 1089–1097 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-011-2438-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-011-2438-6