Yonsei Med J.  2003 Oct;44(5):869-874.

Central N omega-nitro-L-arginine Methyl Ester Does not Influence Lithium-induced c-Fos and Conditioned Taste Aversion

• Jahng JW
• Choi SH
• Kim DG
• Houpt TA

Abstract

LiCl at doses sufficient to induce conditioned taste aversion (CTA) causes c-Fos expression in the brain regions implicated in CTA formation. It has been reported that nitric oxide (NO) may play a role in CTA learning and LiCl increases both the synthesis and activity of NO synthase (NOS) in the brain. In this study, we examined the effect of central N omega-nitro-L- arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) on the brain c-Fos expression and CTA learning induced by lithium in rats. In the results, intracerebroventricular L-NAME given prior to lithium did not change either the lithium-induced CTA or c-Fos in the relevant brain regions. This suggests that the brain NO system may not be involved in the neuronal activation during lithium-induced CTA formation.

Keyword

Conditioned taste aversion; lithium chloride; c-Fos; nitric oxide; rat; intracerebroventricular injection

MeSH Terms

Animals
Avoidance Learning/*drug effects/physiology
Brain/*physiology
Conditioning (Psychology) /*drug effects/physiology
Immunohistochemistry
Injections, Intraventricular
Lithium/*pharmacology
Male
NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester/*pharmacology
Nitric Oxide/physiology
Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos/*analysis
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Taste/*drug effects/physiology