D-Cycloserine Facilitates Extinction of Conditioned Alcohol-Seeking Behaviour in Rats
1 Department of Psychopharmacology and
2 Department of Addictive Behaviour and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
* Corresponding author: Department of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health (CIMH), University of Heidelberg, J5, 68159 Mannheim, Germany. Tel.: +49-621-1703-6261; Fax: +49-621-1703-6255; E-mail: valentina.vengeliene{at}zi-mannheim.de
Received 11 March 2008; first review notified 3 April 2008; in revised form 1 July 2008; accepted 11 July 2008
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Abstract |
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Aims: The aim of the present study was to examine the influence of partial NMDA receptor agonist D-cycloserine (DCS) on the extinction of conditioned alcohol-seeking behaviour. Methods: For this purpose, rats were administered with DCS 60 min before each successive extinction session. Resumption of alcohol responding was carried out 1 day after the final extinction session. Results: We demonstrate that treatment of rats with 5 mg/kg of DCS was capable in facilitating extinction of conditioned alcohol-seeking behaviour, which subsequently reduced the resumption of extinguished operant responding. Conclusions: Our study suggests a good rationale for the development of new add-on medications for exposure-based psychotherapy so as to extinguish drug-conditioned appetitive memories in alcohol-dependent patients.