Effects of ultra-low doses of nicotine on the expression of morphine-induced conditioned place preference in mice.

Full Abstract

In the present study, the effects of acute administration of nicotine, as well as nicotinic and muscarinic acetylcholine receptor antagonists, on the expression of morphine-induced conditioned place preference, have been investigated in male Swiss-Webster mice. Animals received different doses of morphine 5 days after surgical cannulation in the lateral ventricle. Subcutaneous injections of morphine (2-5 mg/kg) in mouse produced place preference in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, both intraperitoneal (0.0006-0.1 mg/kg) and intracerebroventricular (0.007-25 ng) nicotine administration significantly reduced the expression of morphine-induced place preference, in a dose-dependent manner. Nicotine, however, was effective over narrow ultra-low dose ranges (0.0012, 0.0025, 0.005 and 0.01 mg/kg; intraperitoneal) and (0.03, 0.1, 0.3 and 0.6 ng/mouse; intracerebroventricular). In addition, locomotor activity was reduced when higher doses of nicotine [both intraperitoneal (0.02, 0.03 and 0.1 mg/kg) and intracerebroventricular (10 and 24 ng/mouse)] were used. Nicotine alone, however, did not cause motivational effects. Intracerebroventricular injection of hexamethonium (0.03, 0.1 and 0.3 mug/mouse; 10 min before nicotine) diminished the effects of nicotine on morphine-induced conditioned place preference. This effect could neither be obtained by intraperitoneal administration of hexamethonium (1, 5 and 10 mg/kg; 30 min before nicotine), nor be reproduced after either intracerebroventricular or intraperitoneal injection of atropine (a muscarinic receptor antagonist). The antagonists, themselves, did not show any motivational effects when used alone and were unable to affect the expression of morphine-induced conditioned place preference. It appears that ultra-low doses of nicotine can reduce the expression of morphine-induced place preference, and that central nicotinic acetylcholine receptors play a role in this regard.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Shams, Jamal (J); Sahraei, Hedayat (H); Gholami, Azam (A); Haeri-Rohani, Ali (A); Alaf-Javadi, Mahrooz (M); Sepehri, Houri (H); Salimi, Seyed H (SH); Ghoshooni, Hassan (H);

Affiliation: Neuroscience Research Center, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Behavioural pharmacology (Behav Pharmacol), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Nov; vol 17 (issue 7) : pp 629-35

Dates: Created 2006/10/05; Completed 2006/12/06;

PMID: 17021396, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Animals
Conditioning, Operant - drug effects
Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
Hexamethonium - pharmacology
Injections, Intraventricular
Injections, Subcutaneous
Male
Memory - drug effects
Mice

Mice
Morphine - pharmacology
Motor Activity - drug effects
Narcotics - pharmacology
Nicotine - administration & dosage; pharmacology
Nicotinic Agonists - administration & dosage; pharmacology
Nicotinic Antagonists - pharmacology
Receptors, Nicotinic - drug effects
Reinforcement (Psychology)

Associated Chemicals: Narcotics (0) ; Nicotinic Agonists (0) ; Nicotinic Antagonists (0) ; Receptors, Nicotinic (0) ; Nicotine (54-11-5) ; Morphine (57-27-2) ; Hexamethonium (60-26-4)

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

See 100+ related articles.