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http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00213-011-2321-5Psychopharmacology said:Psychopharmacology
November 2011, Volume 218, Issue 2, pp 357-369
Date: 13 May 2011
The effects of aerobic exercise on cocaine self-administration in male and female rats
Mark A. Smith,
Katherine L. Walker,
Kathryn T. Cole,
Kimberly C. Lang
In drug self-administration procedures, extended-access test sessions allow researchers to model maladaptive patterns of excessive and escalating drug intake that are characteristic of human substance-abusing populations.
Objectives
The purpose of the present study was to examine the ability of aerobic exercise to decrease excessive and escalating patterns of drug intake in male and female rats responding under extended-access conditions.
Methods
Male and female Long–Evans rats were obtained at weaning and divided into sedentary (no running wheel) and exercising (running wheel) groups immediately upon arrival. After 6 weeks, rats were surgically implanted with intravenous catheters and allowed to self-administer cocaine under positive reinforcement contingencies. In experiment 1, cocaine self-administration was examined during 23-h test sessions that occurred every 4 days. In experiment 2, the escalation of cocaine intake was examined during daily 6-h test sessions over 14 consecutive days.
Results
In experiment 1, sedentary rats self-administered significantly more cocaine than exercising rats during uninterrupted 23-h test sessions, and this effect was apparent in both males and females. In experiment 2, sedentary rats escalated their cocaine intake to a significantly greater degree than exercising rats over the 14 days of testing. Although females escalated their cocaine intake to a greater extent than males, exercise effectively attenuated the escalation of cocaine intake in both sexes.
Conclusions
These data indicate that aerobic exercise decreases maladaptive patterns of excessive and escalating cocaine intake under extended-access conditions.
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00213-012-2760-7Psychopharmacology said:Psychopharmacology
December 2012, Volume 224, Issue 3, pp 387-400
Date: 03 Jul 2012
Exercise to reduce the escalation of cocaine self-administration in adolescent and adult rats
Natalie E. Zlebnik,
Justin J. Anker,
Marilyn E. Carroll
Concurrent access to an exercise wheel decreases cocaine self-administration under short access (5 h/day for 5 days) conditions and suppresses cocaine-primed reinstatement in adult rats.
Objective
The effect of exercise (wheel running) on the escalation of cocaine intake during long access (LgA, 6 h/day for 26 days) conditions was evaluated.
Methods
Adolescent and adult female rats acquired wheel running, and behavior was allowed to stabilize for 3 days. They were then implanted with an iv catheter and allowed to self-administer cocaine (0.4 mg/kg, iv) during 6-h daily sessions for 16 days with concurrent access to either an unlocked or a locked running wheel. Subsequently, for ten additional sessions, wheel access conditions during cocaine self-administration sessions were reversed (i.e., locked wheels became unlocked and vice versa).
Results
In the adolescents, concurrent access to the unlocked exercise wheel decreased responding for cocaine and attenuated escalation of cocaine intake irrespective of whether the locked or unlocked condition came first. However, cocaine intake increased when the wheel was subsequently locked for the adolescents that had initial access to an unlocked wheel. Concurrent wheel access either before or after the locked wheel access did not reduce cocaine intake in adults.
Conclusions
Wheel running reduced cocaine intake during LgA conditions in adolescent but not adult rats, and concurrent access to the running wheel was necessary. These results suggest that exercise prevents cocaine seeking and that this effect is more pronounced in adolescents than adults.
This research was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, R01 DA003240-28 and K05 DA015267-10 (MEC).