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Li DC, Pitts EG, Dighe NM, Gourley SL. GluN2B inhibition confers resilience against long-term cocaine-induced neurocognitive sequelae. Neuropsychopharmacology 2023; 48:1108-1117. [PMID: 36056105 PMCID: PMC10209078 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-022-01437-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2022] [Revised: 07/26/2022] [Accepted: 08/17/2022] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Cocaine self-administration can disrupt the capacity of humans and rodents to flexibly modify familiar behavioral routines, even when they become maladaptive or unbeneficial. However, mechanistic factors, particularly those driving long-term behavioral changes, are still being determined. Here, we capitalized on individual differences in oral cocaine self-administration patterns in adolescent mice and revealed that the post-synaptic protein PSD-95 was reduced in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) of escalating, but not stable, responders, which corresponded with later deficits in flexible decision-making behavior. Meanwhile, NMDA receptor GluN2B subunit content was lower in the OFC of mice that were resilient to escalatory oral cocaine seeking. This discovery led us to next co-administer the GluN2B-selective antagonist ifenprodil with cocaine, blocking the later emergence of cocaine-induced decision-making abnormalities. GluN2B inhibition also prevented cocaine-induced dysregulation of neuronal structure and function in the OFC, preserving mature, mushroom-shaped dendritic spine densities on deep-layer pyramidal neurons, which were otherwise lower with cocaine, and safeguarding functional BLA→OFC connections necessary for action flexibility. We posit that cocaine potentiates GluN2B-dependent signaling, which triggers a series of durable adaptations that result in the dysregulation of post-synaptic neuronal structure in the OFC and disruption of BLA→OFC connections, ultimately weakening the capacity for flexible choice. And thus, inhibiting GluN2B-NMDARs promotes resilience to long-term cocaine-related sequelae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan C Li
- Medical Scientist Training Program, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Emory National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Elizabeth G Pitts
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Emory National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Niharika M Dighe
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Emory National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Shannon L Gourley
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.
- Emory National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
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Yaw AM, Woodruff RW, Prosser RA, Glass JD. Paternal Cocaine Disrupts Offspring Circadian Clock Function in a Sex-Dependent Manner in Mice. Neuroscience 2018; 379:257-268. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2018.03.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2017] [Revised: 02/20/2018] [Accepted: 03/09/2018] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
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Abstract
Psychostimulants are a diverse group of substances that cause an increase in psychomotor activity at least in part through their actions on catecholaminergic systems including the dopaminergic mesolimbic pathways. Animal models used to study addiction are based on the psychomotor stimulant theory of addiction. The basics of this theory are that the reinforcing effects and the addition liabilities of the drugs can be predicted from their ability to induce psychomotor activation. This approach focuses on the ability of the drugs to directly control the animal's behavior and to induce psychomotor stimulation, and is consistent with the behavioral definition of addiction and behavioral sensitization. Animal experiments have the advantage over clinical studies of lower variation and fewer confounding effects.
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Stowie AC, Amicarelli MJ, Prosser RA, Glass JD. Chronic cocaine causes long-term alterations in circadian period and photic entrainment in the mouse. Neuroscience 2014; 284:171-179. [PMID: 25301751 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.08.057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2014] [Revised: 08/27/2014] [Accepted: 08/27/2014] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The disruptive effects of cocaine on physiological, behavioral and genetic processes are well established. However, few studies have focused on the actions of cocaine on the adult circadian timekeeping system, and none have explored the circadian implications of long-term (weeks to months) cocaine exposure. The present study was undertaken to explore the actions of such long-term cocaine administration on core circadian parameters in mice, including rhythm period, length of the nocturnal activity period and photic entrainment. For cocaine dosing over extended periods, cocaine was provided in drinking water using continuous and scheduled regimens. The impact of chronic cocaine on circadian regulation was evidenced by disruptions of the period of circadian entrainment and intrinsic free-running circadian period. Specifically, mice under a skeleton photoperiod (1-min pulse of dim light delivered daily) receiving continuous ad libitum cocaine entrained rapidly to the light pulse at activity onset. Conversely, water controls entrained more slowly at activity offset through a process of phase-delays, which resulted in their activity rhythms being entrained 147° out of phase with the cocaine group. This pattern persisted after cocaine withdrawal. Next, mice exposed to scheduled daily cocaine presentations exhibited free-running periods under constant darkness that were significantly longer than water controls and which also persisted after cocaine withdrawal. These cocaine-induced perturbations of clock timing could produce chronic psychological and physiological stress, contributing to increased cocaine use and dependence.
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Affiliation(s)
- A C Stowie
- Department of Biological Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA
| | - M J Amicarelli
- Department of Biological Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA
| | - R A Prosser
- Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
| | - J D Glass
- Department of Biological Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA.
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Walker QD, Schramm-Sapyta NL, Caster JM, Waller ST, Brooks MP, Kuhn CM. Novelty-induced locomotion is positively associated with cocaine ingestion in adolescent rats; anxiety is correlated in adults. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 2008; 91:398-408. [PMID: 18790706 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbb.2008.08.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2007] [Revised: 08/12/2008] [Accepted: 08/13/2008] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
The present studies assessed the roles of sex, age, novelty-seeking and plus-maze behavior on cocaine drinking in rats. Cocaine/saccharin solution was available in three daily, 5-hour sessions then a saccharin-only solution was also available in following sessions. In the one-bottle drinking phase, early and late adolescent males, post-natal day 28 (PN28) and PN42, consumed more cocaine/saccharin solution than young adults (PN65), but females did not exhibit significant age differences. Adolescents of both sexes consumed more cocaine/saccharin than adults during choice drinking. Saccharin availability in the two-bottle trials decreased cocaine/saccharin consumption in PN28 and PN65 rats. After a drug-free period, cocaine-stimulated locomotion was lower in cocaine/saccharin drinking than saccharin-only males, indicating tolerance. We tested the hypothesis that individual differences in pre-screened behavioral traits would correlate with cocaine/saccharin consumption in PN28 and PN65 male rats. High locomotor responses to novelty were associated with greater cocaine/saccharin drinking in adults in one-bottle sessions. In the subsequent choice drinking phase, correlations were age-specific. Adolescents with high novelty-induced locomotion and adults that spent less time on open arms of the elevated plus-maze drank more cocaine/saccharin. Thus, behavioral phenotypes correlated with individual differences in cocaine/saccharin consumption in an age-related manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Q David Walker
- Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, United States
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Miles FJ, Everitt BJ, Dalley JW, Dickinson A. Conditioned activity and instrumental reinforcement following long-term oral consumption of cocaine by rats. Behav Neurosci 2005; 118:1331-9. [PMID: 15598142 DOI: 10.1037/0735-7044.118.6.1331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Food-reinforced conditioned activity and instrumental responding were measured in rats after 50 weeks of continuous access to a cocaine-saccharin solution in their home cages. The elevation of conditioned activity produced by acute access to the cocaine-saccharin solution in the home cage during testing was abolished by long-term preexposure to the cocaine solution, an effect that was reversed by systemic administration of cocaine immediately prior to testing. By contrast, chronic cocaine preexposure enhanced instrumental responding for both cocaine-sucrose and pure sucrose solutions. These results support the idea that long-term cocaine exposure enhances subsequent reinforcement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felicity J Miles
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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Abstract
Having established that the presence of cocaine in a 10% (wt/vol) sucrose solution enhanced the reinforcing properties of the solution in a dose-dependent manner, the authors investigated the susceptibility of oral cocaine seeking to outcome devaluation. Rats were trained to perform different instrumental responses for a cocaine-sucrose and a lemon-sucrose solution. An aversion was then conditioned from either the cocaine-sucrose or the lemon-sucrose solution by pairing consumption with lithium chloride. When instrumental performance was subsequently tested in extinction, the rats performed the lemon-sucrose response less if this solution, rather than cocaine-sucrose, had been devalued by aversion conditioning. By contrast, performance of the cocaine-sucrose response was unaffected by whether the cocaine-sucrose or the lemon-sucrose solution had been devalued.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felicity J Miles
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB, England, UK
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Stromberg MF, Mackler SA, Volpicelli JR, O'Brien CP, Dewey SL. The effect of gamma-vinyl-GABA on the consumption of concurrently available oral cocaine and ethanol in the rat. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 2001; 68:291-9. [PMID: 11267634 DOI: 10.1016/s0091-3057(00)00456-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
It has frequently been reported that a high percentage of individuals, identified as either alcohol- or cocaine-dependent, concurrently abuse both drugs. The experiments reported here represent a continuing effort to develop an animal model to predict the effects of a potential pharmacotherapeutic agent on concurrently available oral ethanol and cocaine. These experiments utilized drinkometer circuitry to assess the effects of gamma-vinyl-GABA (GVG), a gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) transaminase inhibitor, on the consumption and temporal pattern of responses for orally self-administered ethanol and cocaine. The results of these experiments showed that GVG, at doses of 100, 200 and 300 mg/kg, reduced both ethanol and cocaine consumption in a dose-related manner. When compared to vehicle, GVG at all doses significantly reduced ethanol consumption while consumption of cocaine was significantly reduced only at 300 mg/kg. This is consistent with data showing that GVG reduces consumption of these drugs when administered alone and data showing that GVG is more potent in reducing ethanol-induced compared to cocaine-induced extracellular dopamine in the nucleus accumbens. Analysis of the temporal pattern of drinking across the session suggests that GVG's effects are due to a disruption of the reinforcing properties of ethanol and cocaine rather than a more general reduction in motor behavior. These data suggest that GVG has potential for clinical use in populations that abuse either alcohol or cocaine alone or in combination.
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Affiliation(s)
- M F Stromberg
- Center For Studies of Addiction, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
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Ferraro TN, Golden GT, Berrettini WH, Gottheil E, Yang CH, Cuppels GR, Vogel WH. Cocaine intake by rats correlates with cocaine-induced dopamine changes in the nucleus accumbens shell. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 2000; 66:397-401. [PMID: 10880696 DOI: 10.1016/s0091-3057(00)00187-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Extracellular dopamine levels were determined by microdialysis in the core and shell of the nucleus accumbens and the frontal cortex of rats before and after an injection of cocaine (20 mg/kg, IP). After removal of the probes, these same animals were then tested for their voluntary intake of cocaine using the two-bottle, free-choice paradigm. Baseline dopamine levels and their responses to an injection of cocaine differed among the three brain areas. No significant correlations were found between baseline dopamine levels in any of the three brain regions and the voluntary cocaine consumption. A significant negative correlation was found between cocaine-induced increases in extracellular dopamine in the shell of the nucleus accumbens and the voluntary intake of cocaine (r = -0.73, p < 0.01). No such correlations were observed in the accumbens core region or the frontal cortex. These results provide further evidence of the role of the accumbal shell region in cocaine preference, and indicate that cocaine-induced increases in dopamine levels play a role in oral cocaine self-administration or preference. In addition, this relatively novel approach in using the same animals for both cocaine induced neurotransmitter responses and cocaine preference studies can also be applied for the study of other neurotransmitters and drugs of abuse.
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Affiliation(s)
- T N Ferraro
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
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