Effects of Haloperidol or SCH-23390 on Ethanol-Induced Conditioned Taste Aversion

✍ Scribed by Fred O Risinger; Miriam M Brown; Roger A Oakes; Julia A Love

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 317 KB
• Volume: 18
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0741-8329
• DOI: 10.1016/s0741-8329(98)00076-7

✦ Synopsis

Dopaminergic systems are thought to play an important role in the motivational effects of ethanol. The present experiments examined the effects of haloperidol (a D2 antagonist) and SCH-23390 (a D1 antagonist) on the acquisition of ethanol-induced conditioned taste aversion. In four separate experiments, adult male Swiss-Webster mice were acclimated to a 2-h/day water restriction regimen. Subsequently they received four conditioning trials consisting of 1-h access to either 0.2 M NaCl (experiments 1-3) or 0.15 % w/v saccharin (experiment 4). After flavor access on trials 1-3, subjects received either haloperidol (0.1, 0.15, or 0.3 mg/kg), SCH-23390 (0.05 mg/ kg), or saline followed 30 min later by 0, 2, or 4 g/kg ethanol. Ethanol-flavor pairings reduced subsequent flavor intakes, indicating the development of conditioned taste aversion. Neither haloperidol of SCH-23390 reduced flavor intakes in the absence of ethanol. However, both haloperidol and SCH-23390 reduced ethanol-conditioned aversion depending on ethanol dose and conditioned flavor. These results are consistent with the notion that dopaminergic processes are important for the development of ethanol-induced conditioned taste aversion, and the notion that dopaminergic receptor systems influence both positive and negative motivational effects of ethanol.