Dopamine D-like Receptors in Prelimbic, but Not Infralimbic, Medial Prefrontal Cortex Contribute to Chronic Stress-induced Increases in Cue-induced Relapse to Palatable Food Seeking During Forced Abstinence

Chronic stress exposure causes increased vulnerability to future relapse-like behavior in male, but not female, rats with a history of palatable food self-administration. These effects are mediated by dopamine D-like receptors, but the anatomical location of chronic stress' dopaminergic mechanism is not known. Thus, male rats were trained to respond for palatable food pellets in daily sessions. During subsequent forced abstinence from food self-administration, stress was manipulated (0 or 3 h restraint/day for 7 days). Rats also received bilateral microinjections of the D-like receptor antagonist SCH-23390 (0.25 μg/0.5 μl/side) or vehicle (0.5 μl/side) delivered to either prelimbic or infralimbic medial prefrontal cortex prior to daily treatments. Relapse tests in the presence of food-associated cues were conducted 7 days after the last treatment. Stress caused an increase and a decrease in responding during relapse tests in rats that received prelimbic vehicle and SCH-23390 infusions, respectively, relative to unstressed rats. In rats receiving IL infusions, however, stress caused an increase in responding regardless of whether the infusion was vehicle or SCH-23390. These results establish a specific role for prelimbic D-like receptors in chronic stress-potentiated relapse.