Abstract
The benzodiazepine receptor inverse agonist Ro 15-4513 reverses a number of ethanol's effects, including its reinforcing properties as measured through self-administration. The present study examined the effect of this putative ethanol antagonist in a place conditioning design that has been shown to be sensitive to ethanol's rewarding properties in mice. Using an unbiased differential conditioning procedure, DBA/2J mice received, on alternate days, pairings of a distinctive floor stimulus (CS+) with either ethanol (2 g/kg), Ro 15-4513 (3 mg/kg), or a combination of ethanol and Ro 15-4513. On alternate days, a different distinctive floor stimulus (CS-) was paired with vehicle. Under these conditions, ethanol produced a conditioned place preference that was unaffected by Ro 15-4513. Ro 15-4513 alone did not produce either a place preference or aversion. Ro 15-4513 did produce reductions in locomotor activity during conditioning, indicating it was behaviorally active. These results indicate that a dose of Ro 15-4513 that alters general activity does not affect ethanol reward.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 97-102 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior |
Volume | 43 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 1992 |
Keywords
- Conditioned place preference
- DBA/2J
- Ethanol
- Inbred mice
- Locomotor activity
- Reward
- Ro 15-4513
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry
- Toxicology
- Pharmacology
- Clinical Biochemistry
- Biological Psychiatry
- Behavioral Neuroscience