Attenuation of cocaine-induced reinstatement of cocaine conditioned place preference by acamprosate

Acamprosate (calcium acetylhomotaurinate) is a glutamatergic neuromodulator efficacious at reducing relapse in alcoholic patients. The effect of acamprosate on relapse to other drugs of abuse has received little attention, however, and given increasing evidence that glutamatergic transmission mediates relapse to cocaine-seeking behavior, the purpose of this study was to assess the effects of acamprosate on the reinstatement of a conditioned place preference for cocaine. Mice were conditioned daily with cocaine (15 mg/kg), tested for the establishment of cocaine conditioned place preference, and then retested once weekly to monitor the extinction of the place preference. Following extinction of cocaine conditioned place preference, animals were treated daily with saline or acamprosate (30 or 100 mg/kg) for 3 days, followed by a single injection of cocaine (15 mg/kg) to reinstate conditioned place preference. In mice treated with saline or the low (30 mg/kg) dose of acamprosate, cocaine induced a significant reinstatement of the previously extinguished conditioned place preference; however, this reinstatement was not observed in mice treated with the high (100 mg/kg) dose of acamprosate. These results indicate that acamprosate can attenuate relapse-like behavior in mice and suggest that this compound may be potentially useful in the treatment for cocaine addiction.