Effects Of Sequestering Acetaldehyde On Alcohol-Mediated Conditioned Place Preference In Adolescent Rats

PAUTASSI RM; NIZHNIKOV ME; SPEAR NE

Huerta Grande, Cba

Congreso; IIRCN, Second Joint Meeting of the Argentine Society for Neurosciences (SAN) and the Argentine Workshop in Neurosciences (TAN); 2010

Argentine Society for Neurosciences (SAN) and the Argentine Workshop in Neurosciences (TAN)

EFFECTS OF SEQUESTERING ACETALDEHYDE ON ALCOHOL-MEDIATED CONDITIONED PLACE PREFERENCE IN ADOLESCENT RATS RM Pautassi, ME Nizhnikov, NE Spear Instituto de Investigación Médica M. y M. Ferreyra (INIMEC - CONICET). Friuli 2434, Córdoba, 5000, Argentina; SUNY at Binghamton, Binghamton, NY, 13902, USA.   The transition from controlled to problematic alcohol drinking is significantly affected by the age in which alcohol consumption begins and by the perception of alcohol’s motivational reinforcing effects. It is thus important to assess the neurobiology of alcohol motivational effects during adolescence. Recent studies revealed alcohol-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) in adolescent rats. Acetaldehyde, the first metabolic product of ethanol oxidation, seems to be involved in alcohol’s appetitive effects. Administration of d-penicillamine (DP), a drug that sequesters acetaldehyde, prevented the acquisition of CPP by alcohol in adult and infant rats. The present study assessed the role of acetaldehyde in the motivational effects of alcohol in adolescent rats. Rats (postnatal days 28-30, PDs 28-30) were given DP (0.0 or 75 mg/kg) 20 min before pairings of 1.0 g/kg alcohol and a sandpaper surface (conditioned stimulus, CS). The pups were exposed to the CS during alcohol post-administration time 5-20 min. At test, the rats given sandpaper-ethanol pairings exhibited greater preference for the CS than unpaired controls, and this effect  -- indicative of appetitive reinforcement by ethanol --  was unaffected by pre-training administration of DP. These results confirm previous data suggesting that adolescent rats are sensitive to the reinforcing effect of ethanol. In adolescents and under the present conditions, this motivational effect was not blocked by an acetaldehyde-chelating agent.