Higher sensitivity to ethanol's aversive properties in WLP (Warsaw Low Preferring) vs. WHP (Warsaw High Preferring) rats.

Ethanol can have both an aversive and rewarding effect, which may have a significant relationship to its individual preference. So far, the reasons for the high and low ethanol preference in the WHP (Warsaw High Preferring) and WLP (Warsaw Low Preferring) lines have not been found. WHP rats spontaneously drink over 5 g/kg/day of ethanol, while WLP rats drink under 2 g/kg/day.

Intergenerational implications of alcohol intake: metabolic disorders in alcohol-naïve rat offspring.

Alcohol drinking may be associated with an increased risk of various metabolic diseases. Rat lines selectively bred for alcohol preference and alcohol avoidance constitute an interesting model to study inherited factors related to alcohol drinking and metabolic disorders. The aim of the present study was to compare the levels of selected laboratory biomarkers of metabolic disorders in blood samples from naïve offspring of Warsaw alcohol high-preferring (WHP), Warsaw alcohol low-preferring (WLP), and wild Wistar rats.

Using anticipatory and drug-evoked appetitive ultrasonic vocalization for monitoring the rewarding effect of amphetamine in a rat model of drug self-administration.

Measuring ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) allows studying psychoactive drug use-related affective states in laboratory rats and may help understand changes underlying the progress of addictions. We aimed at finding an effective scheme for amphetamine self-administration training in rats, identifying factors affecting their anticipatory and drug-evoked, frequency-modulated 50-kHz USV responses, and verifying whether the rewarding action of amphetamine promotes current drug intake during the training. Therefore, we monitored amphetamine intake and anticipatory and drug-evoked USVs in two rat cohorts trained using two different training schemes.

Levetiracetam concentration in hair is associated with the time schedule of administration: Study on rats.

Measurement of hair drug content may be a reliable biomarker of the history of drug exposure, allowing to assess patient long-term compliance. Studies on correlations between antiepileptic drugs intake and their hair contents are limited. The aim of the study was to determine the association between the history of levetiracetam administration and its content in rat hair in controlled laboratory conditions.

Poor sensitization of 50-kHz vocalization response to amphetamine predicts rat susceptibility to self-administration of the drug.

Rationale: Our previous studies showed promise for using sensitization of the frequency-modulated 50-kHz vocalization response to amphetamine (AMPH) as an index of rat vulnerability to AMPH addiction.

Objective: This study aimed to test the utility of sensitizing frequency-modulated (FM) 50-kHz vocalization in the AMPH self-administration paradigm as well as the ability of N-acetylcysteine to prevent self-administration relapse.

Methods: Rats were subjected to the so-called two-injection protocol of sensitization (TIPS) using AMPH and were categorized as low-sensitized callers (LCTIPS) or high-sensitized callers (HCTIPS) based on the individual outcomes.

Ethanol-induced conditioned taste aversion in Warsaw Alcohol High-Preferring (WHP) and Warsaw Alcohol Low-Preferring (WLP) rats.

The aversive action of the pharmacological properties of ethanol was studied in selectively bred Warsaw Alcohol High-Preferring (WHP) and Warsaw Alcohol Low-Preferring (WLP) rats. For this study, a conditioned-taste aversion test was used. Male WHP and WLP rats were submitted to daily 20-min sessions for 5 days, in which a saccharin solution (1.

Drinking of flavored solutions by high preferring (WHP) and low preferring (WLP) alcohol-drinking rats.

Background: Selective breeding alcohol-preferring (P) and alcohol-nonpreferring (NP) rats showed a strong preference for the sucrose solutions, whereas P rats intake greater amounts than NP rats. The aim of this study was the estimation of selectively bred ethanol-preferring (WHP - Warsaw High Preferring) and ethanol-nonpreferring (WLP - Warsaw Low Preferring) rats for their preference for various tastes.

Methods: The oral drinking of the following substances was studied at a range of concentrations: sucrose (0.

Neonatal serotonin (5-HT) depletion does not affect spatial learning and memory in rats.

Background: Extensive previous research has suggested a role for serotonin (5-HT) in learning and memory processes, both in healthy individuals and pathological disorders including depression, autism and schizophrenia, most of which have a developmental onset. Since 5-HT dysfunction in brain development may be involved in disease etiology, the present investigation assessed the effects of neonatal 5-HT depletion on spatial learning and memory in the Morris water maze (MWM).

Methods: Three days old Sprague-Dawley rats were pretreated with desipramine (20 mg/kg) followed by an intraventricular injection of the selective 5-HT neurotoxin 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (5,7-DHT, 70 μg).

Neonatal serotonin (5-HT) depletion does not disrupt prepulse inhibition of the startle response in rats.

The neurodevelopmental hypothesis of many brain disorders is based on the notion that environmental factors have significant effects on brain maturation. Because serotonin (5-HT) dysfunction in development may be involved in disease etiology, the present investigation assessed the effects of neonatal 5-HT depletion on prepulse inhibition of the startle response (PPI) in rats. Three-day-old Sprague-Dawley rats were pretreated with desipramine (20 mg/kg), followed by an intraventricular injection of the selective 5-HT neurotoxin 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (5,7-DHT, 70 μg dissolved in 2 μl of 0.

Cocaine self-administration in Warsaw alcohol high-preferring (WHP) and Warsaw alcohol low-preferring (WLP) rats.

Individuals prone to drug self-administration may be vulnerable not only to a single drug reinforcer but to a variety of drug reinforcers. It has been shown that two thirds of alcoholics regularly use drugs other than ethanol (alcohol). Up to 30% of alcohol-dependent patients report concurrent misuse of cocaine.

Diverse behavioral, monoaminergic and Fos protein responses to opioids in Warsaw high-alcohol preferring and Warsaw low-alcohol preferring rats.

Predisposition to addictions is presumably related to a dysfunction of the brain reward system, which can be 'compensated' by the intake of different psychoactive drugs. Hence, animals showing propensity for developing dependence to a specific drug class may also be useful for modeling other addictions. We compared the effects of repeated (14 daily doses) morphine (10 mg/kg) or methadone (2 mg/kg) treatment followed by a 2-week withdrawal and a morphine challenge (5 mg/kg) on locomotor activity, brain Fos expression and selected brain regional levels of dopamine, serotonin and their metabolites in the 38th generations of selectively bred Warsaw low-alcohol-preferring (WLP) and Warsaw high-alcohol-preferring (WHP) rat lines.

Active versus passive cocaine administration: differences in the neuroadaptive changes in the brain dopaminergic system.

There is considerable evidence that chronic exposure to cocaine is associated with low striatal dopamine D2 receptor availability. In the present study we wished to determine whether neuroadaptive changes in densities of D2 receptors were due to direct pharmacological actions of cocaine or they reflected motivational states that were present when cocaine injection depended on active drug-seeking behavior and whether these changes were related to the actual expression of D2 mRNA. To achieve this goal we utilized a "yoked" procedure in which rats were tested simultaneously in groups of three, with only one rat actively self-administering cocaine while the other two received yoked injections of either cocaine or saline.