Reinstatement of MDMA (ecstasy) seeking by exposure to discrete drug-conditioned cues.
Kevin T. Ball, Kelly M Walsh, George V. Rebec
Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior October 2007 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbb.2007.05.018 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Drug-naive rats |
| Intervention | MDMA |
| Dose | 0.30 mg/kg/infusion, i.v. |
| Topics | MDMA |
| Key findings | Conditioned cues (light and tone) reinstated lever pressing after extinction in rats trained to self-administer MDMA, and the magnitude of reinstatement was positively correlated with the level of responding during MDMA self-administration. |
Abstract
The widely used recreational drug MDMA (ecstasy) supports self-administration in animals, but it is not known whether MDMA-associated cues are able to reinstate drug seeking in a relapse model of drug addiction. To assess this possibility, drug-naïve rats were trained to press a lever for MDMA infusions (0.30 mg/kg/infusion, i.v.) paired with a compound cue (light and tone) in daily 2 h sessions. Responding was reinforced contingent on a modified fixed-ratio 5 schedule of reinforcement. Conditioned cue-induced reinstatement tests were conducted after lever pressing was extinguished in the absence of MDMA and the conditioned cues. Conditioned cues reinstated lever pressing after extinction, and the magnitude of reinstatement was positively correlated with the level of responding during MDMA self-administration. These results show for the first time that conditioned cues can trigger reinstatement of MDMA-seeking behavior in rats, and that individual differences in the pattern of MDMA self-administration can predict the magnitude of reinstatement responding.