Fig. 3: SMAASH-C blunts cocaine-seeking in females during extinction following a six-week treatment regimen over abstinence.

A Experimental summary: male and female rats were trained to self-administer cocaine under a fixed ratio (FR) 1 schedule (acquisition), and once acquired (2 days, 20 infusions), they were given extended-access (ExA, 24-hr/day) to cocaine (4 discrete trials/h, maximum of 96 infusions/day) for 10 days. Rats were given daily treatments (Tx) throughout abstinence of either control-chow (5 females, 6 males) or chow containing a moderate dose of SMAASH-C (0.4 g/kg; 6 females, 7 males). Cocaine-seeking was assessed on abstinence day 43 using an extinction/cue-induced reinstatement procedure. B Mean daily food consumption over the 43-day abstinence period for females (upper panel) and males (Lower Panel) in the control-chow and SMAASH-C groups. C Mean change in body weight on abstinence day 2, 8, 15, 22, 29, 36, and 43 (relative to day 1, just prior to SMAASH-C/control treatment) for females (upper panel) and males (Lower Panel) in the control-chow and SMAASH-C groups. D Mean responses on the lever formerly associated with cocaine during the six extinction (Ext) sessions for females (upper panel) and males (lower panel) in the control-chow and SMAASH-C groups. E Mean responses on the lever formerly associated with cocaine during the last extinction (Ext) session versus the reinstatement session (Cue-Rein) for females (Upper Panels) and males (lower panels) in the control-chow and SMAASH-C groups. Data are plotted as means ± SEM. *Significant effect of sex (B, C). +Significant effect of session (D, E). #Significant effect of SMAASH-C (D).