Involvement of dopamine in the aversive stimulus properties of cocaine in rats

Previous studies of cocaine self-administration have demonstrated central dopaminergic involvement in cocaine's positive reinforcing properties. The present study reports the ability of pimozide, a dopamine receptor antagonist, to attenuate a conditioned taste aversion induced by repeated injections of cocaine. Rats placed on a daily water deprivation schedule were subsequently presented with a novel saccharin taste in their drinking fluid immediately followed by administration of four 9 mg/kg injections of cocaine spaced at 20 min intervals. These animals exhibited a reduction in saccharin intake on subsequent presentations. Animals pretreated with pimozide 90 min prior to the saccharin-cocaine pairings failed to show this reduction. In a second experiment using an identical procedure, repeated injections of lithium chloride were shown to induce a CTA both in pimozide-pretreated and control animals. The results of these two experiments are consistent with the notion that a functional relationship may exist between neurochemical mechanisms underlying both the aversive (CTA-inducing) and positive reinforcing properties of self-administered drugs such as cocaine.