Janaina C M Vendruscolo, Brendan J Tunstall, Stephanie A Carmack, Brooke E Schmeichel, Emily G Lowery-Gionta, Maury Cole, Olivier George, Sophia A Vandewater, Michael A Taffe, George F Koob, Leandro F Vendruscolo
Opioid misuse is at historically high levels in the United States, with inhalation (ie, smoking and vaping) being one of the most common routes of consumption. We developed and validated a novel preclinical model of opioid self-administration by inhalation that does not require surgery and reliably produces somatic and motivational signs of dependence. Rats were trained to perform an operant response (nosepoke) to receive 10 s of vaporized sufentanil, a potent opioid, in 2 h daily sessions. Rats readily and concentration-dependently self-administered vaporized sufentanil...
March 2018: Neuropsychopharmacology