The effects of inhaled acetone on place conditioning in adolescent rats.

Introduction: Acetone is an ubiquitous ingredient in many household products (e.g., glue solvents, air fresheners, adhesives, nail polish, and paint) that is putatively abused; however, there is little empirical evidence to suggest that acetone alone has any abuse liability. Therefore, we systematically investigated the conditioned response to inhaled acetone in a place conditioning apparatus.

Method: Three groups of male, Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to acetone concentrations of 5000, 10,000 or 20,000 ppm for 1 h in a conditioned place preference apparatus alternating with air for 6 pairing sessions. A place preference test ensued in an acetone-free environment. To test the preference of acetone as a function of pairings sessions, the 10,000 ppm group received an additional 6 pairings and an additional group received 3 pairings. The control group received air in both compartments. Locomotor activity was recorded by infrared photocells during each pairing session.

Results: We noted a dose response relationship to acetone at levels 5000-20,000 ppm. However, there was no correlation of place preference as a function of pairing sessions at the 10,000 ppm level. Locomotor activity was markedly decreased in animals on acetone-paired days as compared to air-paired days.

Conclusion: The acetone concentrations we tested for these experiments produced a markedly decreased locomotor activity profile that resemble CNS depressants. Furthermore, a dose response relationship was observed at these pharmacologically active concentrations, however, animals did not exhibit a positive place preference.