Compared with DBA/2J mice, C57BL/6J mice demonstrate greater preference for saccharin and less avoidance of a cocaine-paired saccharin cue.

Rats avoid intake of a saccharin cue when paired with a drug of abuse. While this is true for most subjects, the degree of avoidance of the drug-paired cue depends upon many factors including an individual rat’s preference for rewards. That said, the direction of this effect is complex. For example, reward-preferring Lewis rats exhibit greater cocaine-induced avoidance of a saccharin cue relative to Fischer 344 rats; while reward-preferring mice that over express ΔFosB (NSE-tTA x TetOp-ΔFosB) exhibit less avoidance of the drug-paired taste cue compared to controls. The aim here was to use two strains of commonly used mice, C57BL/6J and DBA/2J, to determine whether known differences in sensitivity to rewards will facilitate or attenuate drug-induced suppression of intake of a drug-paired taste cue. The results of Experiment 1 demonstrate that C57BL/6J mice, compared with DBA/2J mice, exhibit attenuated suppression of saccharin intake when it is paired with cocaine. The results of Experiment 2 demonstrate that strain differences in impulsivity are not likely to account for these differences. It is proposed that, while the C57BL/6J mice typically are more responsive to drug, they also are more responsive to natural rewards (in this case saccharin), and the stronger preference for saccharin serves to militate against drug.