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Review
. 2022 Dec;239(12):3755-3770.
doi: 10.1007/s00213-022-06271-w. Epub 2022 Nov 11.

D-amphetamine maintenance therapy reduces cocaine use in female rats

Ndeye Aissatou Ndiaye  1 , Florence Allain  2 , Anne-Noël Samaha  3   4
Affiliations
Review

D-amphetamine maintenance therapy reduces cocaine use in female rats

Ndeye Aissatou Ndiaye et al. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2022 Dec.

Abstract

Rationale: D-amphetamine maintenance therapy is a promising strategy to reduce drug use in cocaine use disorder (addiction). In both male rats and human cocaine users, d-amphetamine treatment reduces cocaine-taking and -seeking. However, this has not been examined systematically in female animals, even though cocaine addiction afflicts both sexes, and the sexes can differ in their response to cocaine.

Objectives: We determined how d-amphetamine maintenance therapy during cocaine self-administration influences cocaine use in female rats.

Methods: In experiment 1, two groups of female rats received 14 intermittent access (IntA) cocaine self-administration sessions. One group received concomitant d-amphetamine maintenance treatment (COC + A rats; 5 mg/kg/day, via minipump), the other group did not (COC rats). After discontinuing d-amphetamine treatment, we measured responding for cocaine under a progressive ratio schedule, responding under extinction, and cocaine-primed reinstatement of drug-seeking. In experiment 2, we assessed the effects of d-amphetamine maintenance on these measures in already IntA cocaine-experienced rats. Thus, rats first received 14 IntA cocaine self-administration sessions without d-amphetamine. They then received 14 more IntA sessions, now either with (COC/COC + A rats) or without (COC/COC rats) concomitant d-amphetamine treatment.

Results: In both experiments, d-amphetamine treatment did not significantly influence ongoing cocaine self-administration behaviour. After d-amphetamine treatment cessation, cocaine-primed reinstatement of cocaine-seeking was also unchanged. However, after d-amphetamine treatment cessation, rats responded less for cocaine both under progressive ratio and extinction conditions.

Conclusions: D-amphetamine treatment can both prevent and reverse increases in the motivation to take and seek cocaine in female animals.

Keywords: Cocaine addiction; D-amphetamine; Female rats; Intermittent access; Self-administration.

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References

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