Drug-Seeking Behavior Is Significantly Attenuated in Nutritionally Supplemented Cocaine Withdrawn Sprague-Dawley Rats

Abstract

Aim: The effect of patented nutritional supplementation on drug-seeking behavior in cocaine addicted rats during acute drug withdrawal was investigated using a biased Conditioned Place Preference (CPP) paradigm. Method: Twenty-four (24) male Sprague-Dawley rats with pre-conditioned preference for the black chamber of the CPP box were randomly divided into Cocaine (COC) or Saline (SAL) treated groups. Rats (n = 12) treated with cocaine hydrochloride 20 mg/kg/ml, i.p. (COC group) were confined individually to the white chamber on days 1, 3, 5 and 7. On alternate days, they were given 1 ml saline vehicle, i.p. and confined to the black chamber. Control rats (SAL group, n = 12) received only vehicle on all 8 days and were confined on alternate days to the white or black chamber. Positive place preference was confirmed for COC rats, which subsequently received 6 increasing daily doses of cocaine. CPP performances of both COC and SAL rats were recorded following an acute 3-day withdrawal period. All animals were then randomly assigned to rats fed either chow reconstituted with the nutritional supplement (COC-S and SAL-S) or standard rat chow (COC-N and SAL-N) for 8 weeks, followed by final CPP performances. Results: Following supplementation, COC-S rats made significantly less entries and time spent in the white chamber (p Conclusion: Drug-seeking behavior that persisted during cocaine withdrawal was significantly diminished in the nutritionally supplemented.