Effects of ceftriaxone on conditioned nicotine reward in rats. Issue 6 (September 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Philogene-Khalid, Helene L.; Simmons, Steven J.; Muschamp, John W.; Rawls, Scott M.
• Is Part Of: Behavioural pharmacology. Volume 28:Issue 6(2017)
• Publication Date: 2017-09
• Subjects: ceftriaxone -- conditioned place preference -- extinction -- glutamate -- nicotine -- rat -- reward; Psychopharmacology -- Periodicals; Nervous System -- drug effects -- Periodicals; Behavior -- drug effects -- Periodicals; 615.78
• DOI: 10.1097/FBP.0000000000000314
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0955-8810

Abstract

Abstract : Nicotine is the addictive compound in tobacco products which exerts psychosomatic effects that contribute to abuse and to low rates of abstinence in treatment-seeking smokers. At present, the most successful smoking cessation aide helps one in four individuals quit smoking at 1 year postcessation. New adjunctive therapies are needed to improve status of smoking-related public health crises, and β-lactam antibiotics are one class of potential therapies as they favorably augment extrasynaptic glutamate clearance. Our study used two-chamber place conditioning to assess effects of ceftriaxone (CTX) on persistence of conditioned nicotine reward. Rats were conditioned to associate nicotine (0.4 mg/kg, subcutaneous) with one context and vehicle with an alternative context. After initial post-test, rats received either daily ceftriaxone (200 mg/kg, intraperitoneal) or saline. All rats showed nicotine place preference during post-test 1. CTX-treated rats meeting extinction criterion by post-test 7 showed significantly reduced preference for the nicotine-paired context during post-test 2 compared with vehicle-treated rats. We interpret these data to support the further study of CTX as a smoking cessation aide. Our results suggest that CTX reduces persistence of conditioned nicotine reward and may be helpful for improving abstinence rates in a subset of treatment-seeking smokers. Abstract : Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text.