Nicotine increases alcohol self-administration and reinstates alcohol seeking in rats

• Published in: Psychopharmacology Vol. 168; no. 1-2; pp. 216 - 221
• Main Authors: Lê, A D, Wang, A, Harding, S, Juzytsch, W, Shaham, Y
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Springer 01.07.2003; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Alcohol Drinking - prevention & control; Alcohol Drinking - psychology; Animals; Behavior, Addictive - chemically induced; Behavior, Addictive - prevention & control; Behavior, Addictive - psychology; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Drinking of alcoholic beverages; Ethanol - administration & dosage; Male; Nicotine; Nicotine - pharmacology; Rats; Rats, Long-Evans; Reaction Time - drug effects; Reaction Time - physiology; Secondary Prevention; Self Administration
• ISSN: 0033-3158; 1432-2072
• DOI: 10.1007/s00213-002-1330-9

Alcohol and tobacco are often co-abused in humans and previous studies found that nicotine increases alcohol consumption in rats. Here, we studied whether nicotine would reinstate alcohol-taking behavior in drug-free rats and whether this effect would be enhanced by prior exposure to nicotine during alcohol self-administration training. Rats were trained to press a lever for alcohol (12% w/v, 1 h/day), and following stable alcohol intake groups of rats ( n=11-12) were given daily vehicle or nicotine (0.2, 0.4 or 0.8 mg/kg, SC) injections just prior to the self-administration sessions for 10 days. Rats were then given 6 days of alcohol self-administration in the absence of nicotine and an additional 5-10 drug-free days during which lever presses were not reinforced (extinction). Subsequently, rats were tested for reinstatement of alcohol seeking following exposure to priming injections of vehicle or nicotine (0.4 mg/kg, SC). Nicotine increased alcohol self-administration in a dose- and time-dependent manner over the 10-day period. Nicotine also reinstated alcohol seeking after extinction of the alcohol-reinforced behavior, and this effect was strongly enhanced by prior nicotine exposure. The present data extend previous studies on the effect of nicotine on alcohol self-administration, and further indicate that nicotine is an effective stimulus for reinstatement of alcohol seeking during drug-free periods.