Abstract
Cognitive enhancers that act by increasing glycine transmission might be useful adjuncts to cocaine-cue extinction training to deter relapse. The study investigated the effects of combining treatments of the glycine transporter-1 (GlyT-1) inhibitor, Org24598, with extinction training on the subsequent reacquisition of cocaine self-administration. Squirrel monkeys and rats were trained to self-administer cocaine under a second-order schedule of intravenous drug injection in which responding was maintained by cocaine injections and a cocaine-paired visual stimulus. During three weekly extinction sessions, saline was substituted for cocaine but responding still produced the cocaine-paired stimulus. Subjects were treated with Org24598 or vehicle, either before or after each extinction session. One week later, cocaine injections were restored, and reacquisition of cocaine self-administration was evaluated over 15 sessions. Compared with vehicle, administration of Org24598 (1.0 mg/kg in monkeys; 3.0 or 7.5 mg/kg in rats) before each extinction session significantly inhibited reacquisition of cocaine self-administration in each species. In contrast, administration of Org24598 (1.0 mg/kg in monkeys) following, rather than preceding, each extinction session did not affect reacquisition compared with vehicle. When extinction training was replaced by cocaine self-administration or abstinence control conditions, treatment with the same doses of Org24598 resulted in reacquisition that was significantly more rapid than the reacquisition observed when Org24598 was administered before extinction training sessions. The results support the potential clinical utility of GlyT-1 inhibitor pretreatments combined with cocaine-cue extinction training to inhibit relapse.
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Acknowledgements
This research was financially supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse through grants DA024315 and DA024315-S1 and by the National Center for Research Resources (RR00168) and is currently supported by the Office of Research Infrastructure Programs/OD OD011103. We are grateful for the excellent technical assistance of Laura Teixeira, Eileen Curran and Rebecca Smith of the New England Primate Research Center of Harvard Medical School and Leif Hede–Brierley, Jamar Whaley and Samantha Shelton of Boston University.
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Over the past three years, DMP has received funding from Addiction Therapeutix on projects unrelated to this study. The remaining authors declare no conflict of interest.
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Achat-Mendes, C., Nic Dhonnchadha, B., Platt, D. et al. Glycine Transporter-1 Inhibition Preceding Extinction Training Inhibits Reacquisition of Cocaine Seeking. Neuropsychopharmacol 37, 2837–2845 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2012.155
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2012.155
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