Hofford Rebecca S, Bond Paige N, Chow Jonathan J, Bardo Michael T
University of Kentucky, Department of Psychology, Lexington, KY, USA.
University of Kentucky, Department of Psychology, Lexington, KY, USA.
Drug Alcohol Depend. 2020 Aug 1;213:108125. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2020.108125. Epub 2020 Jun 18.
Social peers influence human drug use at every stage of addiction. Using a dual-compartment apparatus that allows for limited social contact, recent work has shown that cocaine self-administration is enhanced when two rats are trained to self-administer at the same time compared to rats trained alone or trained in the presence of a saline self-administration control peer. The current study measured social influence on self-administration of the short-acting opioid remifentanil using a dual-compartment operant conditioning chamber.
Adult male rats were placed in one of five groups: (1) REMI-REMI group, in which both rats self-administered remifentanil; (2) REMI-SAL group, in which rats self-administered remifentanil in the presence of a peer that self-administered saline; (3) SAL-REMI group, in which rats self-administered saline in the presence of a peer that self-administered remifentanil; and (4) REMI ALONE and (5) SAL ALONE groups, in which rats administered their respective drugs alone (no peer). Self-administration was measured using a 2-lever procedure during acquisition, maintenance, increasing fixed-ratio, and dose-response phases.
The presence of a social peer enhanced drug intake during acquisition, regardless of the drug exposure of their peer. Additionally, active lever position significantly affected remifentanil intake during acquisition and maintenance, with the greatest influence occurring when the active lever was close to the peer.
The presence of a social peer in the drug-taking context potentiates remifentanil self-administration, regardless of the peer's drug access. Future studies utilizing the dual-compartment apparatus will help elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying social influence on opioid abuse.
社会同伴在成瘾的各个阶段都会影响人类的药物使用。使用一种允许有限社会接触的双隔室装置，最近的研究表明，与单独训练或在盐水自我给药对照同伴在场的情况下训练的大鼠相比，当两只大鼠同时接受自我给药训练时，可卡因自我给药会增强。本研究使用双隔室操作性条件反射箱测量了社会对短效阿片类药物瑞芬太尼自我给药的影响。
成年雄性大鼠被分为五组之一：（1）瑞芬太尼-瑞芬太尼组，两只大鼠都自我给药瑞芬太尼；（2）瑞芬太尼-盐水组，大鼠在自我给药盐水的同伴在场的情况下自我给药瑞芬太尼；（3）盐水-瑞芬太尼组，大鼠在自我给药瑞芬太尼的同伴在场的情况下自我给药盐水；以及（4）单独瑞芬太尼组和（5）单独盐水组，大鼠单独给药各自的药物（无同伴）。在获取、维持、增加固定比率和剂量反应阶段，使用双杠杆程序测量自我给药情况。
在获取阶段，无论同伴的药物暴露情况如何，社会同伴的存在都会增加药物摄入量。此外，主动杠杆位置在获取和维持阶段显著影响瑞芬太尼摄入量，当主动杠杆靠近同伴时影响最大。
在服药环境中社会同伴的存在会增强瑞芬太尼的自我给药，无论同伴是否有药物获取途径。利用双隔室装置的未来研究将有助于阐明社会对阿片类药物滥用影响的神经机制。
