Chronic administration of a norepinephrine antagonist prevents and partially reverses escalation of cocaine self-administration.

ABSTRACT: Anxiety is a critical component of the development and maintenance of drug addiction; however, anti-anxiety medications such as benzodiazepines and beta-blockers (β-adrenergic receptor antagonists) are not used for the treatment of substance use disorder, except for the management of acute withdrawal syndrome. Preclinical studies have shown that beta-blockers may reduce stress-induced relapse; however, the effect of beta blockers on the escalation and maintenance of drug intake has not been tested. To address this issue, we chronically administered the β-adrenergic receptor antagonist propranolol during the escalation or maintenance of cocaine intake in a model of extended access (6 h) to cocaine self-administration (0.5 mg/kg). The behavioural specificity of propranolol was tested using a

SUBMITTER: Beldjoud H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10614571 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature