Carbon Disulfide Mediates Socially-Acquired Nicotine Self-Administration

The social environment plays a critical role in smoking initiation as well as relapse. We previously reported that rats acquired nicotine self-administration with an olfactogustatory cue only when another rat consuming the same cue was present during self-administration. Because carbon disulfide (CS(2)) mediates social learning of food preference in rodents, we hypothesized that socially acquired nicotine self-administration is also mediated by CS(2). We tested this hypothesis by placing female adolescent Sprague-Dawley rats in operant chambers equipped with two lickometers. Licking on the active spout meeting a fixed-ratio 10 schedule triggered the concurrent delivery of an i.v. infusion (saline, or 30 µg/kg nicotine, free base) and an appetitive olfactogustatory cue containing CS(2) (0–500 ppm). Rats that self-administered nicotine with the olfactogustatory cue alone licked less on the active spout than on the inactive spout. Adding CS(2) to the olfactogustatory cue reversed the preference for the spouts. The group that received 500 ppm CS(2) and the olfactogustatory cue obtained a significantly greater number of nicotine infusions than other groups. After extinction training, the original self-administration context reinstated nicotine-seeking behavior in all nicotine groups. In addition, in rats that received the olfactogustatory cue and 500 ppm CS(2) during SA, a social environment where the nicotine-associated olfactory cue is present, induced much stronger drug-seeking behavior compared to a social environment lacking the olfactogustatory cue. These data established that CS(2) is a critical signal that mediates social learning of nicotine self-administration with olfactogustatory cues in rodents. Additionally, these data showed that the social context can further enhance the drug-seeking behavior induced by the drug-taking environment.