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Preconception maternal cocaine self-administration increases the reinforcing efficacy of cocaine in male offspring

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Abstract

Rationale

Although the influence of gestational cocaine exposure on offspring has been the focus of a sustained research effort, the effect of preconception cocaine self-administration by dams on progeny has received far less attention.

Method

In the current study, adult female rats were allowed to self-administer cocaine 2 h a day for 60 days and then after a 10-day wash out period, bred to naïve males. Maternal behavior was measured in dams until weaning. When male and female progeny reached adulthood, anxiety-like behavior, memory, and cocaine self-administration were assessed in separate cohorts of rats.

Results

Despite a total of at least 30 days of cocaine abstinence, the quality of maternal behaviors was negatively affected by previous cocaine exposure as reflected by less time spent with pups as well as an excess of other maladaptive maternal behaviors. Measures of anxiety-like behavior and memory were not affected by maternal cocaine intake in either male or female offspring. In contrast, male, but not female, the progeny of dams exposed to cocaine showed increased reinforcing efficacy of cocaine as measured by cocaine self-administration under a progressive ratio schedule. The fact that cocaine self-administration was influenced only in the male offspring of cocaine-exposed dams argues against this phenotype being linked to altered maternal behavior, although this possibility cannot be ruled out completely.

Conclusions

Collectively, these results indicate that preconception cocaine self-administration by dams results in the relatively selective enhancement of cocaine addiction-like behavior in male offspring.

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Funding

This work was supported by the following grants from the National Institutes of Health: R01 DA33641 (RCP), T32 DA28874 (SES-J), and K01 DA39308 (MEW).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Bruno Fant, Sarah E. Swinford-Jackson, John Maurer, Duncan Van Nest & R. Christopher Pierce

  2. Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, 19122, USA

    Mathieu E. Wimmer

Authors
  1. Bruno Fant
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  2. Mathieu E. Wimmer
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  3. Sarah E. Swinford-Jackson
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  4. John Maurer
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Correspondence to R. Christopher Pierce.

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Fant, B., Wimmer, M.E., Swinford-Jackson, S.E. et al. Preconception maternal cocaine self-administration increases the reinforcing efficacy of cocaine in male offspring. Psychopharmacology 236, 3429–3437 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-019-05307-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-019-05307-y

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