Bupropion differentially alters the aversive, locomotor and rewarding properties of nicotine in CD-1 mice.

The present experiments determined the effects of bupropion on the motivational (aversive and rewarding) and locomotor properties of nicotine in CD-1 mice. Preliminary experiments determined effective nicotine doses (0.1-2.0 mg/kg) to produce a conditioned taste aversion (CTA) or conditioned place preference (CPP; Experiments 1a and 2a, respectively). Mice were administered vehicle or bupropion (1-20 mg/kg) followed by vehicle or nicotine after drinking saccharin during CTA training (Experiment 1b). Mice were administered vehicle or bupropion (1-20 mg/kg) 15 (Experiment 2b) or 30 (Experiment 2c) minutes (min) prior to vehicle or nicotine during CPP training. The two highest nicotine doses produced CTAs and a moderate nicotine dose (0.4 mg/kg) produced a CPP. Bupropion dose-dependently blocked nicotine CTA. For the 15-min pretreatment interval, bupropion dose-dependently increased locomotor activity and produced CPPs when administered alone; whereas for the 30-min pretreatment interval, only the highest bupropion dose increased locomotor activity and produced a CPP. However, bupropion failed to alter nicotine CPP and the co-administration of bupropion and nicotine did not increase locomotor activity more so than when bupropion was administered alone regardless as to the pretreatment interval. Thus, bupropion selectively altered the aversive properties of nicotine in CD-1 mice.