Escalation and reinstatement of fentanyl self-administration in male and female rats.

ABSTRACT:

Rationale

Escalation of drug intake and craving are two DSM-5 hallmark symptoms of opioid use disorder (OUD).

Objectives

This study determined if escalation of intake as modeled by long access (LgA) self-administration (SA) and craving measured by reinstatement are related.

Methods

Adult male and female Sprague-Dawley rats were trained to self-administer fentanyl across 7 daily 1-h short access (ShA) sessions, followed by 21 SA sessions of either 1- or 6-h duration (ShA or LgA). Following 14 1-h extinction sessions, Experiment 1 assessed reinstatement induced by either fentanyl (10 or 30 µg/kg) or yohimbine (1 or 2 mg/kg), and Experiment 2 assessed reinstatement induced by a drug-associated cue light.

Results

Females acquired fentanyl SA faster than males. When

SUBMITTER: Malone SG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10332850 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature