There is evidence for increased rates of drug use among schizophrenic patients. However, the causality in this relationship remains unclear. In the present work, we use a maternal immune activation model to test whether animals at high risk of developing a schizophrenia-like condition are more prone to acquire cocaine self-administration, show enhanced sensitivity to the reinforcing actions of cocaine or if they are resistant to extinction or vulnerable to relapse. Also, given that D3 and CB2 receptor expression in immune cells is altered in patients with schizophrenia, we examined the populations of immune cells expressing these receptors. Pregnant rats were daily injected with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (2 mg/kg s.c.) or saline during pregnancy, and we tested prepulse inhibition –PPI- in the offspring. After this, one group of rats was submitted to cocaine self-administration (0.5 mg/kg) under fixed and progressive ratio schedules, dose-response testing, extinction and cue-induced drug-seeking. Another group was sacrificed to study the immune blood cells by flow cytometry. While rats born to LPS-treated mothers showed impaired PPI, there were no differences in cocaine self-administration acquisition, responsiveness to dose shifts, extinction or cue-induced reinstatement. Finally, there were fewer D3R⁺ granulocytes in the LPS-offspring and an exciting trend for CB2R⁺ lymphocytes to be more abundant in LPS-exposed rats. Our results indicate that the higher prevalence of cocaine abuse among people with schizophrenia is not due to a pre-existing pathology and suggest that D3R⁺ granulocytes and possibly CB2R⁺ lymphocytes could be potential biomarkers of schizophrenia.

有证据表明精神分裂症患者的药物使用率增加。但是，这种关系的因果关系仍不清楚。在目前的工作中，我们使用产妇的免疫激活模型来测试处于发生精神分裂症样状况的高风险动物是否更容易获得可卡因自我给药，对可卡因增强作用的敏感性增强或是否具有抗药性灭绝或容易复发。同样，鉴于精神分裂症患者免疫细胞中D3和CB2受体的表达发生了改变，我们检查了表达这些受体的免疫细胞的数量。在怀孕期间，每天给怀孕的大鼠注射脂多糖（LPS）（2 mg / kg sc）或生理盐水，我们在后代中测试了脉冲前抑制作用-PPI-。在这之后，一组大鼠按照固定和渐进的比例表，剂量反应试验，消光和提示诱导的药物寻找进行可卡因自我给药（0.5 mg / kg）。牺牲另一组以通过流式细胞术研究免疫血细胞。虽然接受LPS治疗的母亲所生的大鼠显示PPI受损，但可卡因的自我给药习性，对剂量变化的反应性，绝种或提示诱导的恢复无差异。最后，D3R更少 对剂量变化，消光或提示诱导的恢复的反应。最后，D3R更少 对剂量变化，消光或提示诱导的恢复的反应。最后，D3R更少LPS后代中^+的粒细胞⁺粒细胞以及CB2R ⁺淋巴细胞在LPS暴露的大鼠中更丰富的兴奋趋势。我们的结果表明，精神分裂症患者中可卡因滥用的较高患病率不是由于先前存在的病理学所致，并且表明D3R ⁺粒细胞和可能的CB2R ⁺淋巴细胞可能是精神分裂症的潜在生物标志物。