Central mediation of the conditioned taste aversion induced in rats by harmaline

Non-nicotine constituents in e-cigarette aerosol extract attenuate nicotine's aversive effects in adolescent rats

BACKGROUND

Development of preclinical methodology for evaluating the abuse liability of electronic cigarettes (ECs) in adolescents is urgently needed to inform FDA regulation of these products. We previously reported reduced aversive effects of EC liquids containing nicotine and a range of non-nicotine constituents (e.g., propylene glycol, minor tobacco alkaloids) compared to nicotine alone in adult rats as measured using intracranial self-stimulation. The goal of this study was to compare the aversive effects of nicotine alone and EC aerosol extracts in adolescent rats as measured using conditioned taste aversion (CTA), which can be conducted during the brief adolescent period.

METHODS AND RESULTS

In Experiment 1, nicotine alone (1.0 or 1.5 mg/kg, s.c.) produced significant CTA in adolescent rats in a two-bottle procedure, thereby establishing a model to study the effects of EC extracts. At a nicotine dose of 1.0 mg/kg, CTA to Vuse Menthol EC extract, but not Aroma E-Juice EC extract, was attenuated compared to nicotine alone during repeated two-bottle CTA tests (Experiment 2a). At a nicotine dose of 0.5 mg/kg, CTA to Vuse Menthol EC extract did not differ from nicotine alone during the first two-bottle CTA test but extinguished more rapidly across repeated two-bottle tests (Experiment 2b).

CONCLUSIONS

Non-nicotine constituents in Vuse Menthol EC extracts attenuated CTA in a two-bottle procedure in adolescents. This model may be useful for anticipating the abuse liability of ECs in adolescents and for modeling FDA-mandated changes in product standards for nicotine or other constituents in ECs.

Lateral parabrachial lesions impair intraperitoneal but not intraventricular methylscopolamine-induced taste aversion learning

The role of the lateral parabrachial area (lPB) in the acquisition of a delayed taste aversion learning task (TAL) was examined by delivering the peripherally acting aversive compound, methylscopolamine (MSP), through two different routes, intraperitoneal and intraventricular. Consistent with previous anatomical, behavioral and molecular work, electrolytic lesions centered at the lPB did impair TAL when the MSP was injected intraperitoneally. However, lPB-lesioned animals exhibited intact learning capacities when MSP was administered intraventricularly. These results are interpreted in terms of the lPB as a critical anatomical relay involved in bottom-up visceral processing of aversive stimuli and also in relation to the relevance of forebrain structures in TAL.

Acquisition of conditioned taste aversion in rats is prevented by tetrodotoxin blockade of a small midbrain region centered around the parabrachial nuclei

A remarkable feature of conditioned taste aversion (CTA) is the resistance of the association between the gustatory trace and symptoms of poisoning against disruptive procedures. In an attempt to identify the neural substrate of this phase of CTA acquisition, thirsty rats were offered 0.1% saccharin for 15 min, were immediately afterwards anesthetized with pentobarbital, received stereotaxic injections of tetrodotoxin (TTX, 10 ng/microliters) into various brainstem regions and were poisoned with IP injection of LiCl (0.15 M, 2% body weight). In Experiment 1, TTX prevented CTA acquisition when injected into the parabrachial nuclei but was ineffective in the lower medulla. TTX alone did not elicit CTA even at brain sites in which it caused death in 30% of the animals. In Experiment 2, the brainstem was systematically explored by a grid of bilateral TTX injections. A spatial gradient of the CTA disruption pointed to the parabrachial nuclei as the brain region responsible for the amnesic effect observed. Experiment 3 showed that a single TTX injection into the parabrachial nucleus on one side did not prevent CTA acquisition and that similarly ineffective were TTX injections in the sagittal plane both at the mesencephalic and bulbar levels. It is concluded that the pivotal role of the parabrachial nuclei in the formation of the permanent CTA engram can only be revealed by functional blockade which is more radical than that achieved during general anesthesia.

Conditioned taste aversion to injected flavor: differential effect of anesthesia on the formation of the gustatory trace and on its association with poisoning in rats

Anesthesia disrupts formation of conditioned taste aversion (CTA) when induced before presentation of the gustatory stimulus but does not prevent association of the already formed gustatory trace with delayed poisoning. The transition between the disruption-prone and disruption-resistant phases of CTA acquisition was examined under conditions eliminating the confounding effect of anesthesia on ingestive behavior. Intraperitoneal injection of 2% saccharin (1% b.wt.) was used as an intravascular gustatory conditioned stimulus (CS) followed 2 h later by the visceral unconditioned stimulus (US) (LiCl 0.15 mol/l, 2% b.wt.). Pentobarbital anesthesia (50 mg/kg) prevented CTA formation when applied 4 h before to 30 min after saccharin injection, but was ineffective in the second half of the CS-US interval (1-2 h after saccharin administration). CTA acquisition was also impaired by subanesthetic dosages of pentobarbital (10 and 20 mg/kg) preceding i.p. injection of saccharin. It is concluded that the abrupt disappearance of the disruptive effect of pentobarbital in the middle of the CS-US interval marks the formation of the gustatory trace which mediates CTA learning even when both CS and US are applied by i.p. injection.

Conditioned taste aversion induced by self-administered drugs: paradox revisited

In this paper we have reviewed the literature on Conditioned Taste Aversion (CTA) with specific attention to the "apparent paradox" in this literature. This paradox refers to the fact that drugs which are self-administered (SA) by animals and are therefore presumed to possess positive reinforcing properties are also endowed with the capacity to induce a CTA. We have argued that the CTA literature contains evidence of the existence of two qualitatively distinct types of CTA, one which is mediated by emetic agents and the other induced by SA drugs. We first provided evidence to support the notion that the traditional explanation of CTA as a function of "drug toxicity" and its resultant gastrointestinal distress does not fit the data on the nature of CTA induced by SA drugs. We proposed instead that "drug shyness" or the novelty of the drug state of these psychoactive SA drugs constitutes a better explanation of the CTA of SA drugs. We provided further evidence suggesting a functional relationship between the positive reinforcing and aversive properties of SA drugs. We have based this contention on a review of the behavioral, physiological and neurochemical data concerning the nature of CTA of SA drugs. The examination of these data reveals that the neural mechanisms underlying both the positive and aversive properties of SA drugs are the same and at the same time different from the neural mechanisms underlying the induction of CTA by emetic agents. Finally, we discussed the relevance of this interaction between the positive and aversive properties of SA drugs in the context of their abuse liability and the control they exert on drug-oriented behavior.

Conditioned taste aversion induced in rats by intracerebral or systemic administration of monoamine oxidase inhibitors

Conditioned taste aversion (CTA) elicited by systemic or intracerebral application of the monoamine oxidase inhibitors clorgyline (C), pargyline (P) or deprenyl (D) was studied in 402 rats. Water-deprived animals were allowed 15 min access to 0.1% sodium saccharin (CS) followed 10 min later by IP or by intracerebral injection of the drug. In the latter case, the animals were anesthetized 5 min after saccharin drinking with pentobarbital and the drug was stereotaxically injected (1 microliter/min, 1-2 microliters) into the target structure. CTA was assessed in a two-choice retention test performed 2 days later. A geometric progression of three to six dosages applied to groups of rats (n = 10) was employed to establish the effective doses of the drugs which were 4, 20 and 32 mg/kg with IP and 2.5, 10 and 80 micrograms per rat with intracerebral (n. raphé magnus) injections of C, P, and D, respectively. The ratios of intracerebral to systemic dosages eliciting comparable CTA were 1:300 for C, 1:800 for P and 1:100 for D. Injections of 2.5 micrograms C and 10 micrograms P into the mesencephalic reticular formation, medial hypothalamus and cerebral cortex were ineffective, as were injections of 10 micrograms P into the nucleus of the solitary tract and cerebellum. The results indicate that CTA is elicited more efficiently by inhibition of monoamine oxidase A (selectively inhibited by C) than of monoamine oxidase B (selectively inhibited by D).