TY - JOUR
T1 - Sex differences in the effects of nicotine on contextual fear extinction
AU - Oliver, Chicora F.
AU - Kutlu, Munir Gunes
AU - Zeid, Dana
AU - Gould, Thomas J.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was funded with grant support from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (T.J.G., DA017949 ; 1U01DA041632 ), Jean Phillips Shibley Endowment , and Penn State Biobehavioral Health Department. We declare no potential conflict of interest.
Funding Information:
This work was funded with grant support from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (T.J.G., DA017949; 1U01DA041632), Jean Phillips Shibley Endowment, and Penn State Biobehavioral Health Department. We declare no potential conflict of interest.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2018/2
Y1 - 2018/2
N2 - Anxiety and stress disorders occur at a higher rate in women compared to men as well as in smokers in comparison to non-smoker population. Nicotine is known to impair fear extinction, which is altered in anxiety disorders. However, nicotine differentially affects fear learning in men and women, which may mean that sex and nicotine-product use can interact to also alter fear extinction. For this study, we examined sex differences in the effects of acute and chronic nicotine administration on fear memory extinction in male and female C57BL/6J mice. To study the acute effects of nicotine, animals trained in a background contextual fear conditioning paradigm were administered nicotine (0.09, 0.18 or 0.36 mg/kg) prior to extinction sessions. For chronic nicotine, animals continuously receiving nicotine (12.6, 18, or 24 mg/kg/day) were trained in a background contextual fear conditioning paradigm followed by fear extinction sessions. Males exhibited contextual fear extinction deficits following acute and chronic nicotine exposure. Females also exhibited extinction deficits, but only at the highest doses of acute nicotine (0.36 mg/kg) while chronic nicotine did not result in extinction deficits in female mice. These results suggest that sex mediates sensitivity to nicotine's effects on contextual fear memory extinction.
AB - Anxiety and stress disorders occur at a higher rate in women compared to men as well as in smokers in comparison to non-smoker population. Nicotine is known to impair fear extinction, which is altered in anxiety disorders. However, nicotine differentially affects fear learning in men and women, which may mean that sex and nicotine-product use can interact to also alter fear extinction. For this study, we examined sex differences in the effects of acute and chronic nicotine administration on fear memory extinction in male and female C57BL/6J mice. To study the acute effects of nicotine, animals trained in a background contextual fear conditioning paradigm were administered nicotine (0.09, 0.18 or 0.36 mg/kg) prior to extinction sessions. For chronic nicotine, animals continuously receiving nicotine (12.6, 18, or 24 mg/kg/day) were trained in a background contextual fear conditioning paradigm followed by fear extinction sessions. Males exhibited contextual fear extinction deficits following acute and chronic nicotine exposure. Females also exhibited extinction deficits, but only at the highest doses of acute nicotine (0.36 mg/kg) while chronic nicotine did not result in extinction deficits in female mice. These results suggest that sex mediates sensitivity to nicotine's effects on contextual fear memory extinction.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.pbb.2017.12.005
DO - 10.1016/j.pbb.2017.12.005
M3 - Article
C2 - 29253499
AN - SCOPUS:85039710044
SN - 0091-3057
VL - 165
SP - 25
EP - 28
JO - Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior
JF - Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior
ER -