%0 Journal Article %T Swimming exercise attenuates psychological dependence and voluntary methamphetamine consumption in methamphet- amine withdrawn rats %J Iranian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences %I Mashhad University of Medical Sciences %Z 2008-3866 %A Damghani, Fatemeh %A Bigdeli, Imanollah %A Miladi-Gorji, Hossein %A Fadaei, Atefeh %D 2016 %\ 06/01/2016 %V 19 %N 6 %P 594-600 %! Swimming exercise attenuates psychological dependence and voluntary methamphetamine consumption in methamphet- amine withdrawn rats %K Anxiety, %K Craving, %K Depression Methamphetamine- abstinance, %K Obsessive-compulsive disorder, %K Swimming %R 10.22038/ijbms.2016.7126 %X Objective(s): This study evaluated the effect of swimming exercise during spontaneous methamphetamine (METH) withdrawal on the anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and voluntary METH consumption in METH-dependent rats.  Materials and Methods: Male Wistar rats were repeatedly administered with bi-daily doses of METH (2 mg/kg, subcutaneous) over a period of 14 days. Exercised rats were submitted to swimming sessions (45 min/day, five days per week, for 14 days) during spontaneous METH-withdrawal. Then, all animals were tested for the assessment of anxiety by using the elevated plus-maze (EPM), the grooming behaviors (OCD), and depression using forced swimming test (FST) and voluntary METH consumption using a two-bottle choice (TBC) paradigm for the assessment of craving. Results: The results showed that the swimmer METH-withdrawn rats exhibited an increase in EPM open arm time and entries and a reduction of immobility and grooming behaviors compared with the sedentary METH groups. Also, voluntary METH consumption was less in the swimmer METH-withdrawn rats than the sedentary METH groups throughout 5–8 days. Conclusion: This study showed that regular swimming exercise reduced voluntary METH consumption in animal models of craving by reducing anxiety, OCD, and depression in the METH-withdrawn rats. Thus, physical training may be ameliorating some of the withdrawal behavioral consequences of METH. %U https://ijbms.mums.ac.ir/article_7126_fef88e2abc611c46919cdc05f1270563.pdf