Sex Differences in the Reinstatement of @entity888 Seeking after Forced Abstinence in XXXX .

@entity1 @entity7865 @entity888 @entity4987 @entity35 @entity734
Preventing relapse to @entity734 is one of the struggles faced by clinicians in order to treat @entity1 with substance use disorders ( @entity4987 ). There is a large body of clinical evidence suggesting differential characteristics of the disorder in @entity1 and @entity1 , which is in line with preclinical findings as well. The aim of this study was to assess differences in relapse-like behavior in @entity888 ( @entity7865 ) seeking after a period of forced abstinence, which simulates the real clinical situation very well. Findings from such study might add new insights in gender differences in relapse mechanisms to previous studies, which employ a classical drug or cue-induced reinstatement procedure following the extinction training. Adult male and female @entity35 were used in IV self-administration procedure conducted in operant boxes using nose-poke operandi (Coulborn Instruments, USA). Active nose-poke resulted in activation of the infusion pump to deliver one intravenous infusion of @entity7865 (0.08   mg/kg). After baseline drug intake was established (maintenance phase), a period of forced abstinence was initiated and @entity35 were kept singly in their home cages for 14   days. Finally, one reinstatement session in operant boxes was conducted. Females were found to self-administer significantly lower dose of @entity7865 . The relapse rate was assessed as a number of active nose-pokes during the reinstatement session, expressed as a percentage of active nose-poking during the maintenance phase. Females displayed approximately 300% of active nose-pokes compared to 50% in males. This indicates higher vulnerability to relapse of @entity7865 seeking behavior in female @entity35 . This effect was detected in all females, independently of current phase of their estrous cycle. Therefore, this paradigm using operant drug self-administration and reinstatement of drug-seeking after forced abstinence model can be used for preclinical screening for potential new anti-relapse medications specific for @entity1 .
