Effect of cocaine on striatal dopamine clearance in a rat model of developmental stress and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

AbstractAttention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and developmental stress are considered risk factors for the development of drug abuse. Though the physiological mechanisms underlying this risk are not yet clear, ADHD, developmental stress and drug abuse are known to share underlying disturbances in dopaminergic neurotransmission. Thus, we hypothesized that clearance of cocaine-induced elevations in striatal dopamine would be prolonged in a rat model of ADHD and that this would be further increased by exposure to developmental stress. In the current study, male spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs), a well-validated model of ADHD, and control Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats were exposed to either standard rearing (nMS) or a maternal separation (MS) paradigm involving removal of the pups from the dam for 180 min/day over 13 days. This produced a 2 × 2 factorial design (SHR/WKY × nMS/MS) with 5–6 rats/group. Striatal clearance of exogenously applied dopamine was measured via in vivo chronoamperometry, and t...