Background: Binge-eating disorder is a pervasive addiction-like disorder that is defined by excessive and uncontrollable consumption of food within brief periods of time. The aim of the current study was to examine the role of the brain noradrenergic system in binge-like eating through the use of the alpha-1 adrenergic receptor antagonist prazosin.
Methods: For this purpose, we employed a limited access model whereby male Wistar rats were allowed to nosepoke for either chow (Chow rats) or a sugary, highly palatable food (Palatable rats) for 1 h/day. The effects of prazosin (0, 0.5, 1 and 2 mg/kg, i.p.) were tested in a fixed ratio 1 (FR1) and progressive ratio (PR) schedule of reinforcement.
Results: The results show that prazosin preferentially reduced the responses for palatable food in a FR1 reinforcement schedule; when tested in a PR schedule of reinforcement, prazosin increased breakpoint in both Chow and Palatable rats, but more potently and more efficaciously in the latter. Our results suggest that prazosin treatment preferentially increased the motivational properties of the palatable diet.
Conclusions: The current findings provide the characterization of the effects of prazosin on binge-like eating and offer support to the existing literature showing the important role of the noradrenergic system in addiction-like behavior.
Keywords: addiction; binge-eating disorder; noradrenergic system.