Effects of Central vs. Peripheral Estrogen Activity on Nicotine-Induced Conditioned Place Preference in Female Rats

Corona, Dominic

Effects of Central vs. Peripheral Estrogen Activity on Nicotine-Induced Conditioned Place Preference in Female Rats

Persistent URL

https://dspace.allegheny.edu/handle/10456/50702

Author(s)

Corona, Dominic

Date Issued

April 4, 2020

Abstract

Nicotine dependency is an ongoing problem in the United States, and with modern forms of nicotine intake, such as vaporizers, is affecting younger people every year. It is believed that females are especially susceptible to the adverse effects of nicotine including addiction onset, problems with cessation, withdrawal, and mortality. These effects are believed to be caused by estrogen; a hormone produced by the ovaries. Estrogen is believed to directly effect GABA function in the nucleus accumbens and striatum, resulting in enhanced dopamine activity. Using female rats in three conditioning groups, controls, ovariectomized (OVX), a group receiving a peripheral anti-estrogen called ICI 182,780 (ICI) (n=6 per group, n=18 total), the present study aimed to determine if estrogens effects on female addiction were due solely to central nervous system input or if the peripheral nervous system also plays a role. A biased conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm was used with animals receiving s.c. injections of nicotine at a dose of 1.2mg/kg. Results indicated that controls and ICI’s displayed higher CPP scores than OVX animals. However, differences in CPP scores from controls and ICI’s to OVX’s did not differ greatly, explained possibly by small sample sizes.

Major

Neuroscience

First Reader(s)

Hollerman, Jeffrey R.