Prior Exposure to Alcohol Has No Effect on Cocaine Self-Administration and Relapse in Rats: Evidence from a Rat Model that Does Not Support the Gateway Hypothesis.

ABSTRACT: The gateway hypothesis posits that initial exposure to legal drugs promotes subsequent addiction to illicit drugs. However, epidemiological studies are correlational and cannot rule out the alternative hypothesis of shared addiction vulnerability to legal and illegal drugs. We tested the gateway hypothesis using established rat alcohol exposure procedures and cocaine self-administration and reinstatement (relapse) procedures. We gave Wistar or alcohol-preferring (P) rats intermittent access to water or 20% alcohol in their homecage for 7 weeks (three 24-h sessions/week). We also exposed Wistar rats to air or intoxicating alcohol levels in vapor chambers for 14-h/day for 7 weeks. We then tested the groups of rats for acquisition of cocaine self-administration using ascending cocaine doses (

SUBMITTER: Fredriksson I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5506787 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature