Reliable animal models of nausea are necessary to better understand the neurobiology of nausea and to assess treatment effectiveness. We present such a model based on conditioned rejection reactions in rats. Our results demonstrate that delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a treatment reported to reduce chemotherapy-induced nausea in humans, also reduces conditioned rejection reactions in rats. Rats were administered THC or vehicle prior to a pairing of saccharin solution with cyclophosphamide or saline during conditioning and/or prior to test. THC interfered with the establishment of cyclophosphamide-induced conditioned rejection during conditioning and with the expression of conditioned rejection during testing. Our results confirm that the conditioned rejection reaction in the rat is a useful animal model of nausea.
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Limebeer et al. (1999) studied this question.