Extinction of conditioned opiate withdrawal in rats in a two-chambered place conditioning apparatus

Conditioned opiate withdrawal contributes to relapse in addicts and can be studied in rats by using the opiate withdrawal-induced conditioned place aversion (OW-CPA) paradigm. Attenuation of conditioned withdrawal through extinction may be beneficial in the treatment of addiction. Here we describe a protocol for studying OW-CPA extinction using a two-chambered place conditioning apparatus. Rats are made dependent on morphine through subcutaneous implantation of morphine pellets and then are trained to acquire OW-CPA through pairings of one chamber with naloxone-precipitated withdrawal and the other chamber with saline. Extinction training consists of re-exposures to both chambers in the absence of precipitated withdrawal. Rats tested after the completion of training show a decline in avoidance of the formerly naloxone-paired chamber with increasing numbers of extinction training sessions. The protocol takes a minimum of 7 d; the exact duration varies with the amount of extinction training, which is determined by the goals of the experiment.