Paternal alcohol exposure reduces acquisition of operant alcohol self-administration and affects Bdnf DNA methylation in male and female offspring.

Familial transmission of alcohol use disorder reflects genetic and environmental factors. Paternal alcohol exposure may affect rodent offspring via epigenetic modifications transmitted through the male germ line. While such exposure alters alcohol sensitivity in mouse offspring, no studies examined if it impacts the development of operant alcohol self-administration in rats.

Equal response rates maintained by concurrent drug and nondrug reinforcers: a design for treatment evaluation.

During daily 3-h sessions, four rhesus monkeys had concurrent access to 16% alcohol (w/v) and saccharin. A response occurred when a monkey made mouth contact with the metal spout and thereby completed a drinkometer circuit. The liquids were available under concurrent nonindependent fixed-ratio 32 schedules.

Concurrent nonindependent fixed-ratio schedules of alcohol self-administration: Effects of schedule size on choice.

Choice behavior was studied under concurrent nonindependent fixed-ratio fixed-ratio (nFR) schedules of reinforcement, as these schedules result in frequent changeover responses. With these schedules, responses on either operandum count toward the completion of the ratio requirements of both schedules. Five monkeys were subjects, and two pairs of liquid reinforcers were concurrently available: 16% (w/v) and 0% ethanol or 16% and 8% ethanol.

Drug self-administration studies: a novel reinforcement schedule enhances choice.

Relative reinforcing effects of different ethanol and different cocaine doses were studied under concurrent independent fixed-ratio (FR) schedules and concurrent nonindependent FR schedules with rhesus monkeys. Nonindependent FR schedules differed from independent FR schedules in that responses on either side counted towards the FR requirements of two concurrently presented choices. Thus, responses on the right operandum counted toward completion of both right and left FR schedules and, symmetrically, responses on the left did the same.

Predicting extinction and reinstatement of alcohol and sucrose self-administration in outbred rats.

Preventing relapse to drinking or escalation to excessive drinking could be aided by identifying factors that predict these behaviors. Animal models, particularly those that utilize operant self-administration techniques, can be useful. In a prior operant study, we noted a good deal of variability in behaviors during training and test sessions.

Methadone and nicotine self-administration in humans: a behavioral economic analysis.

Rationale: Prior research has revealed inconsistencies in the behavioral relations between nicotine and opiates among methadone-maintained patients.

Objectives: The current study examined whether the drug reinforcers cigarette puffs and methadone were economic complements or substitutes.

Methods: Five methadone-maintained, nicotine-dependent participants were trained to self-administer methadone, cigarette puffs, or concurrently available methadone and puffs.

Direct relation between etonitazene dose and response rate: responding under a single FI per session.

Response-contingent injections of etonitazene (ETZ) have been shown to reinforce rats' lever pressing behavior. The objective of the present study was to determine the relation between response rate and ETZ dose when ETZ was administered subcutaneously once per session by the experimenter contingent upon completion of a 10-min fixed-interval (FI) schedule. When injections of the saline vehicle replaced drug injections, response rates dropped to low levels; rates subsequently increased above saline levels when drug injections were reintroduced, demonstrating that ETZ was serving as a reinforcer.

Relation between choice of ethanol concentration and response rates under progressive- and fixed-ratio schedules: studies with rhesus monkeys.

Rationale: A fundamental problem in the study of drugs as reinforcers is the evaluation of a drug's relative reinforcing effects and changes in such effects. Relative reinforcing effects can be measured by determining the preference for one drug dose relative to another drug dose. However, in IV drug self-administration studies technical limitations make direct comparisons between drug doses difficult.

Relative reinforcing effects of different benzodiazepine doses for rhesus monkeys.

The relative reinforcing effects of different doses of benzodiazepines were determined by giving rhesus monkeys concurrent access to different diazepam and midazolam concentrations. For each monkey a dose response function was obtained using three drug concentrations: low (L), intermediate (I), and high (H). The benzodiazepine and the water vehicle were concurrently available under independent fixed-ratio (FR) schedules.

Orally delivered alprazolam, diazepam, and triazolam as reinforcers in rhesus monkeys.

Rationale: Benzodiazepines are among the most frequently prescribed drugs and are usually taken by mouth. However, there have been few studies of oral self-administration of these drugs, and the results of IV self-administration studies indicate that benzodiazepines are modest reinforcers.

Objectives: To determine if orally delivered alprazolam, diazepam, and triazolam could serve as reinforcers for rhesus monkeys, and to determine some of the conditions under which benzodiazepine reinforced behavior occurs.

Relative reinforcing effects of different oral ethanol doses in rhesus monkeys.

The relative reinforcing effects of different doses of orally delivered ethanol were evaluated. Mouth-contact responding by rhesus monkeys was measured under concurrent fixed-ratio fixed-ratio schedules of liquid delivery (0.67 ml/delivery) from each of two spouts during daily 3-hr sessions.

Oral drug self-administration: an overview of laboratory animal studies.

Many abused drugs can be established as orally delivered reinforcers for rhesus monkeys and other animals. Benzodiazepines, barbiturates, opioids, psychomotor stimulants, dissociative anesthetics, and ethanol can come to serve as reinforcers when taken by mouth. The principal problems in establishing drugs as reinforcers by the oral route of administration are (1) aversive taste, (2) delay in onset of central nervous system effects, and (3) consumption of low volumes of drug solution.

Human methadone self-administration: effects of diazepam pretreatment.

The effect of diazepam on methadone self-administration was examined. Five methadone-maintained patients with a history of benzodiazepine abuse were recruited. Patients were stabilized on 80 mg of methadone per day.

Reinforcement by orally delivered methadone, cocaine, and methadone-cocaine combinations in rhesus monkeys: are the combinations better reinforcers?

Rationale: Polydrug abuse is a problem that has been infrequently examined. In the present study, drug self-administration procedures were used to investigate the reinforcing effects of drug combinations.

Objectives: To determine the absolute and relative response rates maintained by orally delivered methadone, cocaine, and their combinations under sequential and concurrent access.

Reinforcing effects of contingently administered subcutaneous injections of etonitazene in rats.

Rationale: Response-contingent injections of opioids have been shown to control behavior in various species.

Objective: To determine whether s.c.

Relative persistence of behavior: a fundamental measure of relative reinforcing effects.

Relative persistence of behavior is measured in terms of rates of behavior at a higher schedule value divided by rates of behavior at a lower schedule value and then multiplied by 100 to express the result as a percentage. Relative persistence of behavior is a direct function of reinforcer size over a broad range of values. In 1 study, food was the reinforcer; however, in most studies of persistence, drug reinforcers were used, and the drugs were taken orally or intravenously.

Cocaine self-administration under conditions of restricted and unrestricted food access.

Four rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta), maintained at reduced body weight and restricted food availability, had access to a 0.8-mg/ml cocaine solution and vehicle under a concurrent fixed-ratio (FR) 8 schedule. Over days, the cocaine concentration was reduced (0.

Orally delivered methadone as a reinforcer: Effects of the opioid antagonist naloxone.

The effects of the opioid antagonist naloxone were studied with three monkeys under a mutually exclusive fixed-interval 15 s (FI 15 s) schedule of reinforcement. Under this schedule, at the end of each interval, the monkey could obtain one liquid delivery from either the spout that delivered methadone (0.8 mg/ml) or the spout that delivered vehicle (deionized water).

Reinforcing effects of a combination of ethanol and methadone relative to each drug alone.

Studies report a high incidence of alcohol abuse in methadone maintenance patients. There is, however, little data on the reinforcing effects of combinations of ethanol and methadone. In the present study, oral self-administration of a combination of 1% (w/v) ethanol and 0.

Ratio size and cocaine concentration effects on oral cocaine-reinforced behavior.

Monkeys were given a choice between cocaine solutions and water under concurrent fixed-ratio reinforcement schedules. The operant response was spout contact. Six rhesus monkeys served as subjects.

Matching under nonindependent variable-ratio schedules of drug reinforcement.

Response-contingent deliveries of oral pentobarbital maintained responding of 3 rhesus monkeys during daily 3-hr sessions. Deliveries of pentobarbital were arranged under nonindependent concurrent variable-ratio variable-ratio schedules. Responses to either schedule counted toward completion of both variable-ratio schedule requirements.

Lever-press responding maintained by contingent intraperitoneal administration of etonitazene in Long Evans hooded rats.

Lever pressing maintained by intraperitoneal (i.p.) injections of etonitazene was established in five Long Evans hooded rats.

Effects of acute and chronic doses of naltrexone on ethanol self-administration in rhesus monkeys.

The effects of acute and chronic administration of intramuscular naltrexone (0.1, 0.3, 1.

Alprazolam-reinforced medication use in outpatients with anxiety.

The reinforcing effects of alprazolam were investigated in 14 patients who had generalized anxiety or panic disorder, but were not current users/abusers of other psychoactive substances. Using a double-blind outpatient choice procedure, color-coded alprazolam (0.5 mg) and placebo capsules were provided to patients for use 'as needed' in the treatment of anxiety symptoms.

Food-deprivation increases cocaine-induced conditioned place preference and locomotor activity in rats.

Food-deprivation increases the reinforcing efficacy of cocaine and other drugs within self-administration experiments. In this study, the effects of food-deprivation on cocaine-induced conditioned place preference were investigated. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were assigned to one of two feeding conditions: satiated (with ad libitum food) or deprived (maintained at 80% of free-feeding body weights).