Abstract: Objective To study the role of dopamine D3 receptor involved in the amphetamine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) in mice. Methods The CPP was observed in D3 receptor knock-out (D3RKO) mice and C57BL/6 wild-type control mice after administration of amphetamine. The data were analyzed with a two-way ANOVA using the SPSS 13.0 software. Results D3RKO mice showed a significant amphetamine-induced CPP (P<0.001), compared with the ones administered with saline in C57BL/6 control mice. Conclusion The results indicate that amphetamine can produce significant CPP in dopamine D3 receptor knock-out mice, suggesting that amphetamine-induced addiction can be inhibited by dopamine D3 receptor.

Key words: amphetamine, conditioned place preference, gene knock-out, dopamine D3 receptor, drug addiction