Locomotor sensitization to cocaine in adolescent and adult female Wistar rats

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Sydney A. Rowson, Emory University; Stephanie L. Foster, Emory University; David Weinshenker, Emory University; Gretchen Neigh, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2018-09-03
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2018 Elsevier B.V.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2018.04.035
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Behavioural Brain Research
• ISSN: 0166-4328
• Volume: 349
• Start Page: 158
• End Page: 162
• Grant/Funding Information: SAR was supported by training grant T32-GM008602.; This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Nursing Research (NR014886 to GNN); and Drug Abuse (DA038453 and DA040788 to DW).
• Keywords: Neurosciences & Neurology; EXPOSURE; Adolescent; Stress; TRIAL BEHAVIORAL SENSITIZATION; SEX-DIFFERENCES; SENSITIVITY; Wistar; Sensitization; Science & Technology; DOPAMINE; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; PERIADOLESCENT; Cocaine; Behavioral Sciences; Female; Neurosciences; ESTROUS-CYCLE; STRESS; DEPENDENT CHANGES; RECEPTOR
• Research Categories: Biology, Neuroscience; Biology, Genetics; Health Sciences, Pharmacology

Abstract

Adolescent stress exposure is a risk factor for drug abuse, and sex differences contribute to psychostimulant responses. Although many studies have utilized the Wistar rat strain in adolescent stress paradigms, the impact of adolescent stress exposure on addiction-like outcomes has not been rigorously tested in female Wistar rats. In this study, locomotor sensitization was assessed in adolescent and adult female Wistar rats following either chronic stress during adolescence (CAS) or no stress (NS). Adolescent, but not adult, female Wistar rats developed locomotor sensitization to 15 mg/kg cocaine over 5 days of treatment, regardless of stress history. CAS reduced the initial locomotor response to novelty in both adolescent and adult rats compared to NS controls but had no effect on locomotor sensitization to cocaine in adolescents or adult female rats. These studies expand our understanding of age and adolescent stress on cocaine-induced behavioral plasticity in female Wistar rats.