Systemic infusions of the orexigenic peptide ghrelin (GHR) increase dopamine levels within the nucleus accumbens and augment cocaine stimulated locomotion and conditioned place preference in rats; observations that suggest an important role for ghrelin and GHR receptors (GHR-Rs) in drug reinforcement. In the present studies, we examined the development of cocaine locomotor sensitization in rats sustaining either pharmacologic antagonism or genetic ablation of GHR-Rs. In a pharmacologic study, adult male rats were injected (i.p.) with either 0, 3 or 6 mg/kg JMV 2959 (a GHR-R1 receptor antagonist) and 20 minutes later with either vehicle or 10 mg/kg cocaine HCl on each of 7 consecutive days. Rats pretreated with JMV 2959 showed significantly attenuated cocaine-induced hyperlocomotion. In a second study, adult wild type (WT) or mutant rats sustaining ENU-induced knockout of GHR-R (GHR-R (−/−)) received daily injections (i.p) of vehicle (0.9% saline) or 10.0 mg/kg cocaine HCl for 14 successive days. GHR-R null rats treated repeatedly with cocaine showed diminished development of cocaine locomotor sensitization relative to WT rats treated with cocaine. To verify the lack of GHR-R function in the GHR-R (−/−) rats, a separate feeding experiment was conducted in which WT rats, but not GHR-R (−/−) rats, were noted to eat more after a systemic injection of 15 nmol ghrelin than after vehicle. These results suggest that GHR-R activity is required for the induction of locomotor sensitization to cocaine and complement an emerging literature implicating central GHR systems in drug reward. Ghrelin (GHR) is an orexigenic gut peptide that is transported across the blood brain barrier and interacts with GHR receptors (GHR-R) located on ventral tegmental dopamine neurons.

Given that social influences are among the strongest predictors of adolescents' drug use, this study examines the effects of social interactions on morphine sensitization in both adolescent and adult rats. Rats treated with morphine (twice daily, 6 days, 2.5-10 mg/kg, subcutaneously, s.c.) or saline were group-housed in two different conditions. Thus, four experimental groups were examined for each age group: (1) morphine-treated rats housed physically and visually separate from saline-injected rats ('morphine only'); (2) morphine-treated rats housed together with saline-injected rats ('morphine cage-mates'); (3) saline-injected rats housed together with morphine-treated rats ('saline cage-mates'); and (4) saline-injected rats housed physically and visually separate from morphine-treated rats ('saline only'). Starting 9 days following the last morphine injection, rats were individually examined once daily for 5 consecutive days for their locomotor response to 2.5 mg/kg of morphine. For both age groups, there were no significant differences in morphine-induced hyper-locomotion between saline cage-mates and saline only rats. Morphine only rats exhibited morphine locomotor sensitization as compared to both the saline only and saline cage-mates rats. Notably, a significant difference was observed between the adolescent morphine cage-mates and morphine only rats. The adolescent morphine cage-mates did not exhibit the enhanced locomotor response as compared to the saline only and saline cage-mate rats. A trend of reduced morphine locomotor sensitization was observed in the adult morphine cage-mates as compared to morphine only but it did not reach statistical significance. Thus, this study demonstrates social influences on morphine sensitization which are more prevalent in adolescents as compared to adults.