Taste-aversion conditioning, but not immunosuppression conditioning, occurs under partial water deprivation.

The authors investigated whether conditioned taste aversion and immunosuppression took place when water was available during conditioning and test protocols. The authors elicited taste-aversion conditioning and immunosuppression in outbred CD1-strain mice by pairing a conditioned stimulus (sucrose or saccharin solution) with an unconditioned stimulus (cyclophosphamide) that causes gastrointestinal upset and is immunosuppressive. The authors introduced a new conditioning protocol: 5 pairings of a saccharin solution with a low-dose injection of cyclophosphamide. Under these conditions, the authors generated conditioned aversion to saccharin but did not generate conditioned decrease of the antibody response. The authors conclude that taste-aversion conditioning, but not immunosuppression conditioning, occurred under partial water deprivation.