Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31712970›Full record

ArticlePsychopharmacology2020

Effects of voluntary exercise and sex on multiply-triggered heroin reinstatement in male and female rats.

J R Smethells, A Greer, B Dougen, M E Carroll

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Psychopharmacology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
22citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.5field-weighted citation impact, top 19% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

22 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  7. Prefrontal cortex excitatory neurons show distinct response to heroin-associated cue and social stimulus after prolonged heroin abstinence in mice.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

J R SmethellsResearch Fellow, Pharmaco-Neuro-Immunology Training Program, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA. smet0011@umn.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8761-5416
A GreerDepartment of Biological Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
B DougenDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
M E CarrollDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
University of Minnesota · USUniversity of Minnesota Medical Center · US

Funding

Training in PharmacoNeuroImmune Substance Abuse ResearchT32DA007097 · NIDA · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA TWIN CITIES · PI MOLITOR, THOMAS WILLIAM · 1985 to 2021
$13.1M
Statistical Analysis CoreP50DA033942 · NIDA · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · PI CARROLL, MARILYN E. · 2012 to 2017
$6.3M
NIDA NIH HHS P50 DA033942NIDA NIH HHS T32 DA007097
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe rise in heroin addiction has heightened the need for novel and effective treatments. Physical exercise has been shown as an effective treatment for stimulant abuse in clinical and pre-clinical research. However, this treatment has not yet been tested on opioid addiction. This study examined the effects of physical activity (wheel running) on heroin-seeking in rats within a reinstatement paradigm (i.e., heroin relapse model).

methodsFemale and male rats were trained to self-administer intravenous heroin (0.015 mg/kg). Once trained, rats were placed into extinction (i.e., heroin abstinence) for 21 days with continuous access to a locked or unlocked running wheel. After extinction, rats were tested for drug- (heroin, caffeine, and yohimbine) and cue-primed reinstatement of heroin-seeking.

resultsFemales completed more wheel revolutions than males across all study phases. Access to an unlocked running wheel reduced extinction and reinstatement of heroin-seeking, with greater reductions in females than males across several reinstatement conditions. In the locked wheel group, female rats showed greater reinstatement of heroin-seeking than males across several priming conditions.

conclusionsWheel running reduced heroin-seeking in male and female rats, with females showing a more robust effect during reinstatement. The locked wheel group allowed an examination of sex differences in heroin reinstatement, which revealed that females showed greater vulnerability to heroin reinstatement than males, but with no other sex differences observed in maintenance or extinction. Overall, the results indicate that voluntary physical exercise may be an effective treatment for heroin dependence in humans.

Indexed as

Sex CharacteristicsAnimalsDrug-Seeking BehaviorExtinction, PsychologicalFemaleHeroinMaleMotor ActivityPhysical Conditioning, AnimalRatsRats, WistarSelf AdministrationYohimbineHeroinYohimbineExerciseHeroin reinstatementRatsRunning wheelSex differences

Identifiers

PMID31712970
PMCPMC7023997
OpenAlexW2986731612

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.