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Chronic treatment with CP 55,940 during the peri-adolescent period differentially affects the behavioural responses of male and female rats in adulthood

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Abstract

Rationale

Despite the increasing use of cannabis among adolescents, there is scarce information about the long-term effects of cannabinoid receptor agonists in appropriate animal models.

Objectives

We aimed to investigate the behavioural features of adult male and female Wistar rats that had been exposed to a chronic treatment with the cannabinoid receptor agonist CP 55,940 (CP) during the juvenile period.

Methods

CP (0.4 mg/kg i.p.) or its corresponding vehicle was administered once daily, from day 35 to day 45. In adulthood, the animals were tested in the holeboard, the open field and the elevated plus-maze, under different stress (illumination) conditions. After a resting period, the serum corticosterone levels (radioimmunoassay) of the animals were measured. The effects of CP on food intake and somatic growth were monitored throughout the experimental period.

Results

The CP treatment induced significant sex-dependent effects on holeboard activity, as well as a decrease in the level of emotionality/anxiety in the open field and in the plus-maze. The animals receiving CP also showed diminished food intake and body weights during the treatment period, but both parameters recovered normal values during the period after treatment. No significant effect of the CP treatment on corticosterone levels was found.

Conclusions

The results demonstrate that chronic administration of CP during the peri-adolescent period resulted in marked behavioural effects in adulthood. The nature of these effects depended on the sex of the animals and on the specific behavioural test. The possible neurobiological substrates underlying the effects of CP are discussed.

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Fig. 3A, B.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología (BFI2000–0611) and Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid (CAM 08.8–004.97–02). The authors wish to thank Dr. A Gallego for assistance in the statistical analysis. Beatriz Fernández and Miguel Biscaia have a postdoctoral and a predoctoral grant, respectively, from the Ministerio de Educación y Cultura.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Psicobiología de la UNED, Madrid, Spain

    Miguel Biscaia, Beatriz Fernández & Emilio Ambrosio

  2. Departamento de Fisiología (Fisiología Animal II), Facultad de Biología, Universidad Complutense, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    Susana Marín, Eva M. Marco, Marina Rubio & Maria Paz Viveros

  3. Instituto Cajal, Madrid, Spain

    Carmen Guaza

Authors
  1. Miguel Biscaia
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  2. Susana Marín
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  3. Beatriz Fernández
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  4. Eva M. Marco
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  5. Marina Rubio
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  6. Carmen Guaza
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  7. Emilio Ambrosio
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  8. Maria Paz Viveros
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Correspondence to Maria Paz Viveros.

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Biscaia, M., Marín, S., Fernández, B. et al. Chronic treatment with CP 55,940 during the peri-adolescent period differentially affects the behavioural responses of male and female rats in adulthood. Psychopharmacology 170, 301–308 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-003-1550-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-003-1550-7

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