Involvement of the σ1 receptor in the cocaine-induced... : NeuroReport (original) (raw)

NEUROPHARMACOLOGY AND NEUROTOXICOLOGY

Involvement of the σ1 receptor in the cocaine-induced conditioned place preference

1INSERM U.336, Behavioural Neuropharmacology Group, ENSCM, 8, rue de l'Ecole Normale, 34296 Montpellier Cedex 5, France

2Department of Neuropharmacology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92307, USA

3Corresponding Author: Tangui Maurice

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The authors are grateful to Dr Rae R. Matsumoto (Oklahoma University, Oklahoma City, OK, USA) for helpful advice, to Dr Wayne D. Bowen (NIDDKD/NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA) and Dr Yasuko Karasawa (Taisho Pharmaceutical Co, Tokyo, Japan) for their gift of drugs. This work was supported by the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale.

Received 8 June 2000; accepted 22 June 2000

Abstract

The sigma1 (σ1) receptor constitutes a particular target of cocaine believed to be involved in some of its behavioral effects. In the present study, its involvement in the rewarding effect of cocaine was examined using the conditioned place preference (CPP) procedure. CPP was induced in C57Bl/6 mice injected repeatedly with cocaine (20 mg/kg, i.p.). The selective σ1 receptor antagonists NE-100 and BD1047 (1-10 mg/kg, i.p.) significantly attenuated or blocked the cocaine-induced CPP. Animals treated centrally with a σ1 receptor antisense oligodeoxynucleotide failed to develop cocaine-induced CPP, unlike mismatch controls. The σ1 receptor thus appears to be critically involved in the development of the cocaine-induced CPP and, in consequence, may constitute a promising approach to blocking cocaine reward.