Insulin dependent and independent normalization of blood glucose levels reduces the enhanced rewarding effects of nicotine in a rodent model of diabetes.

This study examined whether the enhanced rewarding effects of nicotine observed in streptozotocin (STZ)-treated rats are insulin-mediated. Male and female rats were treated with STZ and the rewarding effects of nicotine (0.2 mg/kg) were measured using the conditioned place preference (CPP) procedure. Some STZ-treated animals received insulin supplementation via subcutaneous immediately after STZ administration, while other rats received daily injections of dapagliflozin (10 mg/kg), a sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor. Both male and female STZ-treated rats displayed hyperglycemia, and their blood glucose levels (BGLs) were normalized to control levels following insulin supplementation or dapagliflozin administration. STZ-treated male rats displayed higher nicotine CPP relative to vehicle-treated controls. This effect was abolished in rats that received insulin supplementation or dapagliflozin administration. STZ-treated female rats displayed reduced levels of nicotine CPP as compared to male rats, regardless of treatment condition. These results suggest that glucose plays a major role in modulating the rewarding effects of nicotine in male rats treated with STZ. PMID: 29803655 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Behavioural Brain Research - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Behav Brain Res Source Type: research