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The Effects of Norbinaltorphimine Preexposure on THC‐induced Place and Taste Avoidance in Sprague‐Dawley Rats.
Author(s) -
Flax Shaun,
Wakeford Alison,
Rice Kenner,
Riley Anthony
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.29.1_supplement.1019.15
Subject(s) - δ9 tetrahydrocannabinol , κ opioid receptor , taste aversion , pharmacology , conditioned place preference , taste , psychology , cannabinoid , aversive stimulus , conditioning , chemistry , antagonist , addiction , medicine , neuroscience , receptor , statistics , mathematics
Studying the mechanisms that modulate cannabinoid abuse potential is important, given that it is the most widely used drug of abuse in the United States. Although a drug's abuse potential is thought to be mediated by the balance between its rewarding and aversive effects, little is known about the aversive effects of Δ 9 ‐tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive constituent of cannabis, and how these effects might vary with specific experiential and subject factors. The aversive effects of THC have been studied in CB57/BL mice using the place conditioning design, and these studies have argued that activity at the kappa opioid receptor (KOR) mediates the aversive effects of THC. Specifically, both genetic ablation and pharmacological antagonism of the KOR system blocks THC‐induced place avoidance. Given reported differences between mice and rats in other behavioral preparations, it is not known if this effect is evident in other species. To address this, the present experiment assessed the effects of the KOR antagonist, norbinaltorphimine (norBNI), on THC‐induced place and taste avoidance in Sprague‐Dawley rats. Specifically, rats were injected with 15 mg/kg of norBNI 24h prior to the pairing of a distinct side of a place conditioning chamber (Experiment 1) or a novel taste (Experiment 2) with one of three doses of THC (0.56, 1.0 and 3.2 mg/kg). Independent of the specific assay, norBNI had no significant effect on the aversive effects of THC. These data suggest that the specific mediation of THC's aversive effects by KOR activity may be species dependent.