N-acetylcysteine reduces extinction responding and induces enduring reductions in cue-and heroin-induced drug-seeking

作者：Zhou Wenhua; Kalivas Peter W^*

来源：Biological Psychiatry, 2008, 63(3): 338-340.

DOI：10.1016/j.biopsych.2007.06.008

• addiction
• extinction
• heroin
• N-acetylcysteine
• reinstatement
• self-administration

Background: Previous studies show that the acute administration of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) inhibits the desire for cocaine in addicts and cocaine-seeking in animals.
Methods: Rats were trained to self-administer heroin, and the reinstatement model of drug seeking was used to determine whether chronic NAC treatment inhibited heroin-seeking.
Results: Daily NAC administration inhibited cue- and heroin-induced seeking. Moreover, repeated NAC administration during extinction training reduced extinction-responding and inhibited cue- and heroin-induced reinstatement for up to 40 days after discontinuing daily NAC injection.
Conclusions: These data show that daily NAC inhibits heroin-induced reinstatement and produces an enduring reduction in cue- and heroin-induced drug seeking for over I month after the last injection of NAC. Both the inhibitory effect of NAC on the reinstatement of heroin-seeking and the ability of NAC to reduce extinction-responding support clinical evaluation of repeated NAC administration to decrease in drug-seeking in heroin addicts.

• 出版日期2008-2-1
• 单位宁波大学