U-69593 prevents cocaine sensitization by normalizing basal accumbens dopamine

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
REPEATED intermittent administration of cocaine (20 mg kg−1, i.p.) for 3 days dramatically increased basal dopamine (DA) overflow in the nucleus accumbens (ACB) 48 h after the final daily injection. This cocaine pretreatment also produced a significant increase in stereotypy in response to a subsequent cocaine challenge. However, when the selective k-opioid receptor agonist U-69593 was administered in combination with cocaine for 3 days, these cocaine-induced biochemical and behavioral effects were abolished. It is suggested that the responsiveness of meso-limbic DA neurons to cocaine is intimately related to basal DA concentrations within the ACB and that U-69593, by normalizing cocaine-induced increases in basal DA overflow, may prevent the development of behavioral sensitization to cocaine.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: