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Xiao T, Roland A, Chen Y, Guffey S, Kash T, Kimbrough A. A role for circuitry of the cortical amygdala in excessive alcohol drinking, withdrawal, and alcohol use disorder. Alcohol 2024:S0741-8329(24)00034-X. [PMID: 38447789 DOI: 10.1016/j.alcohol.2024.02.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2023] [Revised: 01/30/2024] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024]
Abstract
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) poses a significant public health challenge. Individuals with AUD engage in chronic and excessive alcohol consumption, leading to cycles of intoxication, withdrawal, and craving behaviors. This review explores the involvement of the cortical amygdala (CoA), a cortical brain region that has primarily been examined in relation to olfactory behavior, in the expression of alcohol dependence and excessive alcohol drinking. While extensive research has identified the involvement of numerous brain regions in AUD, the CoA has emerged as a relatively understudied yet promising candidate for future study. The CoA plays a vital role in rewarding and aversive signaling and olfactory-related behaviors and has recently been shown to be involved in alcohol-dependent drinking in mice. The CoA projects directly to brain regions that are critically important for AUD, such as the central amygdala, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, and basolateral amygdala. These projections may convey key modulatory signaling that drives excessive alcohol drinking in alcohol-dependent subjects. This review summarizes existing knowledge on the structure and connectivity of the CoA and its potential involvement in AUD. Understanding the contribution of this region to excessive drinking behavior could offer novel insights into the etiology of AUD and potential therapeutic targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiange Xiao
- Purdue University, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine
| | - Alison Roland
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Yueyi Chen
- Purdue University, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine
| | - Skylar Guffey
- Purdue University, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine
| | - Thomas Kash
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Adam Kimbrough
- Purdue University, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine; Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience; Purdue University, Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering; Purdue Institute of Inflammation, Immunology, and Infectious Disease.
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2
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Pati D, Lee SI, Conley SY, Sides T, Boyt KM, Hunker AC, Zweifel LS, Kash TL. Dopamine D2 receptors in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis modulate alcohol-related behaviors. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.06.13.544820. [PMID: 37398115 PMCID: PMC10312666 DOI: 10.1101/2023.06.13.544820] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/04/2023]
Abstract
Dysregulation of the dopamine (DA) system is a hallmark of substance abuse disorders, including alcohol use disorder (AUD). Of the DA receptor subtypes, the DA D2 receptors (D2Rs) play a key role in the reinforcing effects of alcohol. D2Rs are expressed in numerous brain regions associated with the regulation of appetitive behaviors. One such region is the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), which has been linked to the development and maintenance of AUD. Recently, we identified alcohol withdrawal-related neuroadaptations in the periaqueductal gray/dorsal raphe to BNST DA circuit in male mice. However, the role of D2R-expressing BNST neurons in voluntary alcohol consumption is not well characterized. In this study, we used a CRISPR-Cas9-based viral approach, to selectively reduce the expression of D2Rs in BNST VGAT neurons and interrogated the impact of BNST D2Rs in alcohol-related behaviors. In male mice, reduced D2R expression potentiated the stimulatory effects of alcohol and increased voluntary consumption of 20% w/v alcohol in a two-bottle choice intermittent access paradigm. This effect was not specific to alcohol, as D2R deletion also increased sucrose intake in male mice. Interestingly, cell-specific deletion of BNST D2Rs in female mice did not alter alcohol-related behaviors but lowered the threshold for mechanical pain sensitivity. Collectively, our findings suggest a role for postsynaptic BNST D2Rs in the modulation of sex-specific behavioral responses to alcohol and sucrose.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dipanwita Pati
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Sophia I. Lee
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Sara Y. Conley
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Curriculum of Neuroscience, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Tori Sides
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Kristen M. Boyt
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Avery C. Hunker
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Larry S. Zweifel
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Thomas L. Kash
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
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3
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Nicolas C, Zlebnik NE, Farokhnia M, Leggio L, Ikemoto S, Shaham Y. Sex Differences in Opioid and Psychostimulant Craving and Relapse: A Critical Review. Pharmacol Rev 2022; 74:119-140. [PMID: 34987089 PMCID: PMC11060335 DOI: 10.1124/pharmrev.121.000367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 28.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2021] [Accepted: 08/15/2021] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
A widely held dogma in the preclinical addiction field is that females are more vulnerable than males to drug craving and relapse. Here, we first review clinical studies on sex differences in psychostimulant and opioid craving and relapse. Next, we review preclinical studies on sex differences in psychostimulant and opioid reinstatement of drug seeking after extinction of drug self-administration, and incubation of drug craving (time-dependent increase in drug seeking during abstinence). We also discuss ovarian hormones' role in relapse and craving in humans and animal models and speculate on brain mechanisms underlying their role in cocaine craving and relapse in rodent models. Finally, we discuss imaging studies on brain responses to cocaine cues and stress in men and women.The results of the clinical studies reviewed do not appear to support the notion that women are more vulnerable to psychostimulant and opioid craving and relapse. However, this conclusion is tentative because most of the studies reviewed were correlational, not sufficiently powered, and not a priori designed to detect sex differences. Additionally, imaging studies suggest sex differences in brain responses to cocaine cues and stress. The results of the preclinical studies reviewed provide evidence for sex differences in stress-induced reinstatement and incubation of cocaine craving but not cue- or cocaine-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking. These sex differences are modulated in part by ovarian hormones. In contrast, the available data do not support the notion of sex differences in craving and relapse/reinstatement for methamphetamine or opioids in rodent models. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: This systematic review summarizes clinical and preclinical studies on sex differences in psychostimulant and opioid craving and relapse. Results of the clinical studies reviewed do not appear to support the notion that women are more vulnerable to psychostimulant and opioid craving and relapse. Results of preclinical studies reviewed provide evidence for sex differences in reinstatement and incubation of cocaine seeking but not for reinstatement or incubation of methamphetamine or opioid seeking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Céline Nicolas
- Neurocentre Magendie, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France (C.N.); Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, Present address: Division of Biomedical Sciences, University of California Riverside, School of Medicine, Riverside, CA (N.E.Z.); Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD (M.F., L.L., S.I., Y.S.); and Division of Intramural Clinical and Biological Research, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD (M.F., L.L.)
| | - Natalie E Zlebnik
- Neurocentre Magendie, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France (C.N.); Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, Present address: Division of Biomedical Sciences, University of California Riverside, School of Medicine, Riverside, CA (N.E.Z.); Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD (M.F., L.L., S.I., Y.S.); and Division of Intramural Clinical and Biological Research, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD (M.F., L.L.)
| | - Mehdi Farokhnia
- Neurocentre Magendie, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France (C.N.); Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, Present address: Division of Biomedical Sciences, University of California Riverside, School of Medicine, Riverside, CA (N.E.Z.); Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD (M.F., L.L., S.I., Y.S.); and Division of Intramural Clinical and Biological Research, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD (M.F., L.L.)
| | - Lorenzo Leggio
- Neurocentre Magendie, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France (C.N.); Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, Present address: Division of Biomedical Sciences, University of California Riverside, School of Medicine, Riverside, CA (N.E.Z.); Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD (M.F., L.L., S.I., Y.S.); and Division of Intramural Clinical and Biological Research, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD (M.F., L.L.)
| | - Satoshi Ikemoto
- Neurocentre Magendie, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France (C.N.); Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, Present address: Division of Biomedical Sciences, University of California Riverside, School of Medicine, Riverside, CA (N.E.Z.); Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD (M.F., L.L., S.I., Y.S.); and Division of Intramural Clinical and Biological Research, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD (M.F., L.L.)
| | - Yavin Shaham
- Neurocentre Magendie, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France (C.N.); Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, Present address: Division of Biomedical Sciences, University of California Riverside, School of Medicine, Riverside, CA (N.E.Z.); Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD (M.F., L.L., S.I., Y.S.); and Division of Intramural Clinical and Biological Research, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD (M.F., L.L.)
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Kaouane N, Ada S, Hausleitner M, Haubensak W. Dorsal Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis-Subcortical Output Circuits Encode Positive Bias in Pavlovian Fear and Reward. Front Neural Circuits 2022; 15:772512. [PMID: 34970123 PMCID: PMC8713515 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2021.772512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2021] [Accepted: 11/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Opposite emotions like fear and reward states often utilize the same brain regions. The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) comprises one hub for processing fear and reward processes. However, it remains unknown how dorsal BNST (dBNST) circuits process these antagonistic behaviors. Here, we exploited a combined Pavlovian fear and reward conditioning task that exposed mice to conditioned tone stimuli (CS)s, either paired with sucrose delivery or footshock unconditioned stimuli (US). Pharmacological inactivation identified the dorsal BNST as a crucial element for both fear and reward behavior. Deep brain calcium imaging revealed opposite roles of two distinct dBNST neuronal output pathways to the periaqueductal gray (PAG) or paraventricular hypothalamus (PVH). dBNST neural activity profiles differentially process valence and Pavlovian behavior components: dBNST-PAG neurons encode fear CS, whereas dBNST-PVH neurons encode reward responding. Optogenetic activation of BNST-PVH neurons increased reward seeking, whereas dBNST-PAG neurons attenuated freezing. Thus, dBNST-PVH or dBNST-PAG circuitry encodes oppositely valenced fear and reward states, while simultaneously triggering an overall positive affective response bias (increased reward seeking while reducing fear responses). We speculate that this mechanism amplifies reward responding and suppresses fear responses linked to BNST dysfunction in stress and addictive behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadia Kaouane
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna Biocenter (VBC), Vienna, Austria
| | - Sibel Ada
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna Biocenter (VBC), Vienna, Austria
| | - Marlene Hausleitner
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna Biocenter (VBC), Vienna, Austria
| | - Wulf Haubensak
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna Biocenter (VBC), Vienna, Austria.,Department of Neuronal Cell Biology, Center for Brain Research, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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Vázquez-León P, Miranda-Páez A, Chávez-Reyes J, Allende G, Barragán-Iglesias P, Marichal-Cancino BA. The Periaqueductal Gray and Its Extended Participation in Drug Addiction Phenomena. Neurosci Bull 2021; 37:1493-1509. [PMID: 34302618 DOI: 10.1007/s12264-021-00756-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2020] [Accepted: 05/11/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The periaqueductal gray (PAG) is a complex mesencephalic structure involved in the integration and execution of active and passive self-protective behaviors against imminent threats, such as immobility or flight from a predator. PAG activity is also associated with the integration of responses against physical discomfort (e.g., anxiety, fear, pain, and disgust) which occurs prior an imminent attack, but also during withdrawal from drugs such as morphine and cocaine. The PAG sends and receives projections to and from other well-documented nuclei linked to the phenomenon of drug addiction including: (i) the ventral tegmental area; (ii) extended amygdala; (iii) medial prefrontal cortex; (iv) pontine nucleus; (v) bed nucleus of the stria terminalis; and (vi) hypothalamus. Preclinical models have suggested that the PAG contributes to the modulation of anxiety, fear, and nociception (all of which may produce physical discomfort) linked with chronic exposure to drugs of abuse. Withdrawal produced by the major pharmacological classes of drugs of abuse is mediated through actions that include participation of the PAG. In support of this, there is evidence of functional, pharmacological, molecular. And/or genetic alterations in the PAG during the impulsive/compulsive intake or withdrawal from a drug. Due to its small size, it is difficult to assess the anatomical participation of the PAG when using classical neuroimaging techniques, so its physiopathology in drug addiction has been underestimated and poorly documented. In this theoretical review, we discuss the involvement of the PAG in drug addiction mainly via its role as an integrator of responses to the physical discomfort associated with drug withdrawal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Priscila Vázquez-León
- Departamento de Fisiología y Farmacología, Centro de Ciencias Básicas, Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, Ciudad Universitaria, 20131, Aguascalientes, Ags., Mexico
| | - Abraham Miranda-Páez
- Departamento de Fisiología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Wilfrido Massieu esq. Manuel Stampa s/n Col. Nueva Industrial Vallejo, 07738, Gustavo A. Madero, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Jesús Chávez-Reyes
- Departamento de Fisiología y Farmacología, Centro de Ciencias Básicas, Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, Ciudad Universitaria, 20131, Aguascalientes, Ags., Mexico
| | - Gonzalo Allende
- Departamento de Fisiología y Farmacología, Centro de Ciencias Básicas, Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, Ciudad Universitaria, 20131, Aguascalientes, Ags., Mexico
| | - Paulino Barragán-Iglesias
- Departamento de Fisiología y Farmacología, Centro de Ciencias Básicas, Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, Ciudad Universitaria, 20131, Aguascalientes, Ags., Mexico.
| | - Bruno A Marichal-Cancino
- Departamento de Fisiología y Farmacología, Centro de Ciencias Básicas, Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, Ciudad Universitaria, 20131, Aguascalientes, Ags., Mexico.
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6
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Carboni E, Carta AR, Carboni E, Novelli A. Repurposing Ketamine in Depression and Related Disorders: Can This Enigmatic Drug Achieve Success? Front Neurosci 2021; 15:657714. [PMID: 33994933 PMCID: PMC8120160 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.657714] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2021] [Accepted: 03/31/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Repurposing ketamine in the therapy of depression could well represent a breakthrough in understanding the etiology of depression. Ketamine was originally used as an anesthetic drug and later its use was extended to other therapeutic applications such as analgesia and the treatment of addiction. At the same time, the abuse of ketamine as a recreational drug has generated a concern for its psychotropic and potential long-term effects; nevertheless, its use as a fast acting antidepressant in treatment-resistant patients has boosted the interest in the mechanism of action both in psychiatry and in the wider area of neuroscience. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the actions of ketamine and intends to cover: (i) the evaluation of its clinical use in the treatment of depression and suicidal behavior; (ii) the potential use of ketamine in pediatrics; (iii) a description of its mechanism of action; (iv) the involvement of specific brain areas in producing antidepressant effects; (v) the potential interaction of ketamine with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis; (vi) the effect of ketamine on neuronal transmission in the bed nucleus of stria terminalis and on its output; (vii) the evaluation of any gender-dependent effects of ketamine; (viii) the interaction of ketamine with the inflammatory processes involved in depression; (ix) the evaluation of the effects observed with single or repeated administration; (x) a description of any adverse or cognitive effects and its abuse potential. Finally, this review attempts to assess whether ketamine's use in depression can improve our knowledge of the etiopathology of depression and whether its therapeutic effect can be considered an actual cure for depression rather than a therapy merely aimed to control the symptoms of depression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ezio Carboni
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Anna R. Carta
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Elena Carboni
- Unit of Paediatrics, ASST Cremona Maggiore Hospital, Cremona, Italy
| | - Antonello Novelli
- Department of Psychology and University Institute of Biotechnology of Asturias, University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain
- Sanitary Institute of the Princedom of Asturias, Oviedo, Spain
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Urien L, Stein N, Ryckman A, Bell L, Bauer EP. Extended amygdala circuits are differentially activated by context fear conditioning in male and female rats. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2021; 180:107401. [PMID: 33581315 PMCID: PMC8076097 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2021.107401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2020] [Revised: 02/02/2021] [Accepted: 02/02/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
As the incidence of anxiety disorders is more prevalent in females, comparing the neural underpinnings of anxiety in males and females is imperative. The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) contributes to long-lasting, anxiety-like states including the expression of context fear conditioning. Currently, there is conflicting evidence as to which nuclei of the BNST contribute to these behaviors. The anterolateral portion of the BNST (BNST-AL) located dorsal to the anterior commissure and lateral to the stria terminalis sends robust projections to the central nucleus of the amygdala (CE). Here we asked whether the BNST-AL is active during the expression of context fear conditioning in both male and female rats. At the cellular level, the expression of context fear produced upregulation of the immediate-early gene ARC in the BNST-AL as well as an upregulation of ARC specifically in neurons projecting to the CE, as labeled by the retrograde tracer Fluorogold infused into the CE. However, this pattern of ARC expression was observed in male rats only. Excitotoxic lesions of the BNST reduced context fear expression in both sexes, suggesting that a different set of BNST subnuclei may be recruited by the expression of fear and anxiety-like behaviors in females. Overall, our data highlight the involvement of the BNST-AL in fear expression in males, and suggest that subnuclei of the BNST may be functionally different in male and female rats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Louise Urien
- Departments of Biology and Neuroscience & Behavior, Barnard College of Columbia University, 3009 Broadway, New York, NY 10027, United States
| | - Nicole Stein
- Departments of Biology and Neuroscience & Behavior, Barnard College of Columbia University, 3009 Broadway, New York, NY 10027, United States
| | - Abigail Ryckman
- Departments of Biology and Neuroscience & Behavior, Barnard College of Columbia University, 3009 Broadway, New York, NY 10027, United States
| | - Lindsey Bell
- Departments of Biology and Neuroscience & Behavior, Barnard College of Columbia University, 3009 Broadway, New York, NY 10027, United States
| | - Elizabeth P Bauer
- Departments of Biology and Neuroscience & Behavior, Barnard College of Columbia University, 3009 Broadway, New York, NY 10027, United States.
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Pantazis CB, Gonzalez LA, Tunstall BJ, Carmack SA, Koob GF, Vendruscolo LF. Cues conditioned to withdrawal and negative reinforcement: Neglected but key motivational elements driving opioid addiction. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2021; 7:7/15/eabf0364. [PMID: 33827822 PMCID: PMC8026136 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abf0364] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2020] [Accepted: 02/19/2021] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a debilitating disorder that affects millions of people. Neutral cues can acquire motivational properties when paired with the positive emotional effects of drug intoxication to stimulate relapse. However, much less research has been devoted to cues that become conditioned to the aversive effects of opioid withdrawal. We argue that environmental stimuli promote motivation for opioids when cues are paired with withdrawal (conditioned withdrawal) and generate opioid consumption to terminate conditioned withdrawal (conditioned negative reinforcement). We review evidence that cues associated with pain drive opioid consumption, as patients with chronic pain may misuse opioids to escape physical and emotional pain. We highlight sex differences in withdrawal-induced stress reactivity and withdrawal cue processing and discuss neurocircuitry that may underlie withdrawal cue processing in dependent individuals. These studies highlight the importance of studying cues associated with withdrawal in dependent individuals and point to areas for exploration in OUD research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline B Pantazis
- Integrative Neuroscience Research Branch, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
| | - Luis A Gonzalez
- Integrative Neuroscience Research Branch, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Brendan J Tunstall
- Department of Pharmacology, Addiction Science, and Toxicology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Stephanie A Carmack
- Center for Adaptive Systems of Brain-Body Interactions, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA
| | - George F Koob
- Integrative Neuroscience Research Branch, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Leandro F Vendruscolo
- Integrative Neuroscience Research Branch, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
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9
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Jadzic D, Bassareo V, Carta AR, Carboni E. Nicotine, cocaine, amphetamine, morphine, and ethanol increase norepinephrine output in the bed nucleus of stria terminalis of freely moving rats. Addict Biol 2021; 26:e12864. [PMID: 31849152 DOI: 10.1111/adb.12864] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2019] [Revised: 11/18/2019] [Accepted: 11/26/2019] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
The bed nucleus of stria terminalis (BNST) is a complex limbic area involved in neuroendocrine and behavioural responses and, in particular, in the modulation of the stress response. BNST is innervated by dopamine and norepinephrine, which are known to be involved in drug addiction. It is also known that several drugs of abuse increase dopamine transmission in the BNST, but there has been less research regarding the effect on norepinephrine transmission. Here, we have used the microdialysis technique to investigate the effect of several drugs of abuse on norepinephrine transmission in the BNST of freely moving rats. We observed that nicotine (0.2-0.4 mg/kg), cocaine (2.5-5 mg/kg), amphetamine (0.25-0.5 mg/kg), and ethanol (0.5-1.0 g/kg), dose-dependently increased norepinephrine output while the effect of morphine at 3.0 was lower than that of 1.0 mg/kg. These results suggest that many drugs of abuse, though possessing diverse mechanisms of action, share the property of increasing norepinephrine transmission in the BNST. Furthermore, we suggest that the recurring activation of NE transmission in the BNST, due to drug administration, contributes to the alteration of the function that BNST assumes in how the behavioural response to stress manifests, favouring the establishment of the stress-induced drug seeking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dragana Jadzic
- Department of Biomedical Sciences University of Cagliari Cagliari Italy
| | | | - Anna R. Carta
- Department of Biomedical Sciences University of Cagliari Cagliari Italy
| | - Ezio Carboni
- Department of Biomedical Sciences University of Cagliari Cagliari Italy
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10
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Beyeler A, Dabrowska J. Neuronal diversity of the amygdala and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. HANDBOOK OF BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2020; 26:63-100. [PMID: 32792868 DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-815134-1.00003-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Anna Beyeler
- Neurocentre Magendie, French National Institutes of Health (INSERM) unit 1215, Neurocampus of Bordeaux University, Bordeaux, France
| | - Joanna Dabrowska
- Center for the Neurobiology of Stress Resilience and Psychiatric Disorders, Discipline of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, The Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL, United States
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11
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Walker LC, Kastman HE, Lawrence AJ. Pattern of neural activation following yohimbine‐induced reinstatement of alcohol seeking in rats. Eur J Neurosci 2020; 51:706-720. [DOI: 10.1111/ejn.14431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2019] [Revised: 03/25/2019] [Accepted: 04/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Leigh C. Walker
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health Parkville Victoria Australia
- Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health The University of Melbourne Melbourne Victoria Australia
| | - Hanna E. Kastman
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health Parkville Victoria Australia
| | - Andrew J. Lawrence
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health Parkville Victoria Australia
- Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health The University of Melbourne Melbourne Victoria Australia
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Neasta J, Darcq E, Jeanblanc J, Carnicella S, Ben Hamida S. GPCR and Alcohol-Related Behaviors in Genetically Modified Mice. Neurotherapeutics 2020; 17:17-42. [PMID: 31919661 PMCID: PMC7007453 DOI: 10.1007/s13311-019-00828-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) constitute the largest class of cell surface signaling receptors and regulate major neurobiological processes. Accordingly, GPCRs represent primary targets for the treatment of brain disorders. Several human genetic polymorphisms affecting GPCRs have been associated to different components of alcohol use disorder (AUD). Moreover, GPCRs have been reported to contribute to several features of alcohol-related behaviors in animal models. Besides traditional pharmacological tools, genetic-based approaches mostly aimed at deleting GPCR genes provided substantial information on how key GPCRs drive alcohol-related behaviors. In this review, we summarize the alcohol phenotypes that ensue from genetic manipulation, in particular gene deletion, of key GPCRs in rodents. We focused on GPCRs that belong to fundamental neuronal systems that have been shown as potential targets for the development of AUD treatment. Data are reviewed with particular emphasis on alcohol reward, seeking, and consumption which are behaviors that capture essential aspects of AUD. Literature survey indicates that in most cases, there is still a gap in defining the intracellular transducers and the functional crosstalk of GPCRs as well as the neuronal populations in which their signaling regulates alcohol actions. Further, the implication of only a few orphan GPCRs has been so far investigated in animal models. Combining advanced pharmacological technologies with more specific genetically modified animals and behavioral preclinical models is likely necessary to deepen our understanding in how GPCR signaling contributes to AUD and for drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jérémie Neasta
- Laboratoire de Pharmacologie, Faculté de Pharmacie, University of Montpellier, 34093, Montpellier, France
| | - Emmanuel Darcq
- Douglas Hospital Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, 6875 Boulevard LaSalle, Montreal, Quebec, H4H 1R3, Canada
| | - Jérôme Jeanblanc
- Research Group on Alcohol and Pharmacodependences-INSERM U1247, University of Picardie Jules Verne, 80025, Amiens, France
| | - Sebastien Carnicella
- INSERM U1216, Grenoble Institut des Neurosciences (GIN), University of Grenoble Alpes, 38000, Grenoble, France
| | - Sami Ben Hamida
- Douglas Hospital Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, 6875 Boulevard LaSalle, Montreal, Quebec, H4H 1R3, Canada.
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Pati D, Marcinkiewcz CA, DiBerto JF, Cogan ES, McElligott ZA, Kash TL. Chronic intermittent ethanol exposure dysregulates a GABAergic microcircuit in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. Neuropharmacology 2019; 168:107759. [PMID: 31494142 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2019.107759] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2019] [Revised: 08/27/2019] [Accepted: 09/02/2019] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Neuroadaptations in brain regions that regulate emotional and reward-seeking behaviors have been suggested to contribute to pathological behaviors associated with alcohol-use disorder. One such region is the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), which has been linked to both alcohol consumption and alcohol withdrawal-induced anxiety and depression. Recently, we identified a GABAergic microcircuit in the BNST that regulates anxiety-like behavior. In the present study, we examined how chronic alcohol exposure alters this BNST GABAergic microcircuit in mice. We selectively targeted neurons expressing corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) using a CRF-reporter mouse line and combined retrograde labeling to identify BNST projections to the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and lateral hypothalamus (LH). Following 72 h of withdrawal from four weekly cycles of chronic intermittent ethanol (CIE) vapor exposure, the excitability of a sub-population of putative local CRF neurons that did not project to either VTA or LH (CRFnon-VTA/LH neurons) was increased. Withdrawal from CIE also increased excitability of non-CRF BNST neurons that project to both LH and VTA (BNSTnon-CRF-proj neurons). Furthermore, both populations of neurons had a reduction in spontaneous EPSC amplitude while frequency was unaltered. Withdrawal from chronic alcohol was accompanied by a significant increase in spontaneous IPSC frequency selectively in the BNSTnon-CRF-proj neurons. Together, these data suggest that withdrawal from chronic ethanol dysregulates local CRF-GABAergic microcircuit to inhibit anxiolytic outputs of the BNST which may contribute to enhanced anxiety during alcohol withdrawal and drive alcohol-seeking behavior. This article is part of the special issue on 'Neuropeptides'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dipanwita Pati
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Thurston Bowles Building 104 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Catherine A Marcinkiewcz
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Thurston Bowles Building 104 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Jeffrey F DiBerto
- Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, 2751, USA
| | - Elizabeth S Cogan
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Thurston Bowles Building 104 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Zoe A McElligott
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Thurston Bowles Building 104 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Thomas L Kash
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Thurston Bowles Building 104 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA; Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, 2751, USA.
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Snyder AE, Salimando GJ, Winder DG, Silberman Y. Chronic Intermittent Ethanol and Acute Stress Similarly Modulate BNST CRF Neuron Activity via Noradrenergic Signaling. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2019; 43:1695-1701. [PMID: 31141179 DOI: 10.1111/acer.14118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2019] [Accepted: 05/15/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Relapse is a critical barrier to effective long-term treatment of alcoholism, and stress is often cited as a key trigger to relapse. Numerous studies suggest that stress-induced reinstatement to drug-seeking behaviors is mediated by norepinephrine (NE) and corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) signaling interactions in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), a brain region critical to many behavioral and physiologic responses to stressors. Here, we sought to directly examine the effects of NE on BNST CRF neuron activity and determine whether these effects may be modulated by chronic intermittent EtOH (CIE) exposure or a single restraint stress. METHODS Adult male CRF-tomato reporter mice were treatment-naïve, or either exposed to CIE for 2 weeks or to a single 1-hour restraint stress. Effects of application of exogenous NE on BNST CRF neuron activity were assessed via whole-cell patch-clamp electrophysiological techniques. RESULTS We found that NE depolarized BNST CRF neurons in naïve mice in a β-adrenergic receptor (AR)-dependent mechanism. CRF neurons from CIE- or stress-exposed mice had significantly elevated basal resting membrane potential compared to naïve mice. Furthermore, CIE and stress individually disrupted the ability of NE to depolarize CRF neurons, suggesting that both stress and CIE utilize β-AR signaling to modulate BNST CRF neurons. Neither stress nor CIE altered the ability of exogenous NE to inhibit evoked glutamatergic transmission onto BNST CRF neurons as shown in naïve mice, a mechanism previously shown to be α-AR-dependent. CONCLUSIONS Altogether, these findings suggest that stress and CIE interact with β-AR signaling to modulate BNST CRF neuron activity, potentially disrupting the α/β-AR balance of BNST CRF neuronal excitability. Restoration of α/β-AR balance may lead to novel therapies for the alleviation of many stress-related disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela E Snyder
- From the, Department of Neural and Behavioral Sciences, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania
| | - Gregory J Salimando
- Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee.,Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee.,Department of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee.,Vanderbilt J.F. Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee
| | - Danny G Winder
- Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee.,Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee.,Department of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee.,Vanderbilt J.F. Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee
| | - Yuval Silberman
- From the, Department of Neural and Behavioral Sciences, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania
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Increased Alcohol-Drinking Induced by Manipulations of mGlu5 Phosphorylation within the Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis. J Neurosci 2019; 39:2745-2761. [PMID: 30737312 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1909-18.2018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2018] [Revised: 12/06/2018] [Accepted: 12/21/2018] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) is part of the limbic-hypothalamic system important for behavioral responses to stress, and glutamate transmission within this region has been implicated in the neurobiology of alcoholism. Herein, we used a combination of immunoblotting, neuropharmacological and transgenic procedures to investigate the role for metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGlu5) signaling within the BNST in excessive drinking. We discovered that mGlu5 signaling in the BNST is linked to excessive alcohol consumption in a manner distinct from behavioral or neuropharmacological endophenotypes that have been previously implicated as triggers for heavy drinking. Our studies demonstrate that, in male mice, a history of chronic binge alcohol-drinking elevates BNST levels of the mGlu5-scaffolding protein Homer2 and activated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) in an adaptive response to limit alcohol consumption. Male and female transgenic mice expressing a point mutation of mGlu5 that cannot be phosphorylated by ERK exhibit excessive alcohol-drinking, despite greater behavioral signs of alcohol intoxication and reduced anxiety, and are insensitive to local manipulations of signaling in the BNST. These transgenic mice also show selective insensitivity to alcohol-aversion and increased novelty-seeking, which may be relevant to excessive drinking. Further, the insensitivity to alcohol-aversion exhibited by male mice can be mimicked by the local inhibition of ERK signaling within the BNST. Our findings elucidate a novel mGluR5-linked signaling state within BNST that plays a central and unanticipated role in excessive alcohol consumption.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) is part of the limbic-hypothalamic system important for behavioral responses to stress and alcohol, and glutamate transmission within BNST is implicated in the neurobiology of alcoholism. The present study provides evidence that a history of excessive alcohol drinking increases signaling through the metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGlu5) receptor within the BNST in an adaptive response to limit alcohol consumption. In particular, disruption of mGlu5 phosphorylation by extracellular signal-regulated kinase within this brain region induces excessive alcohol-drinking, which reflects a selective insensitivity to the aversive properties of alcohol intoxication. These data indicate that a specific signaling state of mGlu5 within BNST plays a central and unanticipated role in excessive alcohol consumption.
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Funk D, Coen K, Tamadon S, Lê AD. Effect of chronic alcohol vapor exposure on reinstatement of alcohol seeking induced by U50,488. Neuropharmacology 2019; 148:210-219. [PMID: 30659838 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2019.01.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2018] [Revised: 01/10/2019] [Accepted: 01/15/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Alcohol dependence and stress are associated with relapse to alcohol during abstinence, but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Kappa opioid receptors (KOR) are involved in alcohol reward and in the effects of stress. Previously, in non-dependent rats, we showed that KOR in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) mediate reinstatement of alcohol seeking induced by the selective KOR agonist U50,488. Here, we determine the effects of chronic, intermittent exposure to alcohol vapor on U50,488-induced reinstatement of alcohol seeking. We also study brain mechanisms involved using the neuronal activity marker Fos and phosphorylated p38 MAPK (p-p38), an intracellular messenger implicated in the effects of KOR stimulation. We trained male Long-Evans rats to self-administer alcohol (12% w/v) and exposed them to alcohol vapor (14 h vapor/10 h air) daily for 24 d or to the control condition, extinguished alcohol-reinforced responding and determined the dose response for U50,488-induced reinstatement. We then determined the effects of vapor exposure on U50,488-induced Fos and p-p38 expression. Vapor-exposed rats were more sensitive to U50,488-induced reinstatement. U50,488 increased Fos expression in brain areas involved in stress-induced relapse, and Fos activation in the ventral BNST was greater in vapor exposed rats. Vapor exposed rats had increased basal p-p38 expression in the dorsal BNST, LC and NTS. Our findings suggest that changes in the neuronal responses to KOR stimulation in the ventral BNST may be involved in the increased sensitivity to U50,488 accompanying dependence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Douglas Funk
- Neurobiology of Alcohol Laboratory, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada.
| | - Kathleen Coen
- Neurobiology of Alcohol Laboratory, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada
| | - Sahar Tamadon
- Neurobiology of Alcohol Laboratory, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada
| | - A D Lê
- Neurobiology of Alcohol Laboratory, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada; Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Toronto, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Canada
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17
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Farrell MR, Schoch H, Mahler SV. Modeling cocaine relapse in rodents: Behavioral considerations and circuit mechanisms. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2018; 87:33-47. [PMID: 29305936 PMCID: PMC6034989 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2018.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2017] [Revised: 12/18/2017] [Accepted: 01/02/2018] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Addiction is a chronic relapsing disorder, in that most addicted individuals who choose to quit taking drugs fail to maintain abstinence in the long-term. Relapse is especially likely when recovering addicts encounter risk factors like small "priming" doses of drug, stress, or drug-associated cues and locations. In rodents, these same factors reinstate cocaine seeking after a period of abstinence, and extensive preclinical work has used priming, stress, or cue reinstatement models to uncover brain circuits underlying cocaine reinstatement. Here, we review common rat models of cocaine relapse, and discuss how specific features of each model influence the neural circuits recruited during reinstated drug seeking. To illustrate this point, we highlight the surprisingly specific roles played by ventral pallidum subcircuits in cocaine seeking reinstated by either cocaine-associated cues, or cocaine itself. One goal of such studies is to identify, and eventually to reverse the specific circuit activity that underlies the inability of some humans to control their drug use. Based on preclinical findings, we posit that circuit activity in humans also differs based on the triggers that precipitate craving and relapse, and that associated neural responses could help predict the triggers most likely to elicit relapse in a given person. If so, examining circuit activity could facilitate diagnosis of subgroups of addicted people, allowing individualized treatment based on the most problematic risk factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mitchell R Farrell
- Department of Neurobiology & Behavior, University of California, 1203 McGaugh Hall, Irvine, United States
| | - Hannah Schoch
- Department of Neurobiology & Behavior, University of California, 1203 McGaugh Hall, Irvine, United States
| | - Stephen V Mahler
- Department of Neurobiology & Behavior, University of California, 1203 McGaugh Hall, Irvine, United States.
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18
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CRF modulation of central monoaminergic function: Implications for sex differences in alcohol drinking and anxiety. Alcohol 2018; 72:33-47. [PMID: 30217435 DOI: 10.1016/j.alcohol.2018.01.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2017] [Revised: 01/03/2018] [Accepted: 01/19/2018] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Decades of research have described the importance of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) signaling in alcohol addiction, as well as in commonly co-expressed neuropsychiatric diseases, including anxiety and mood disorders. However, CRF signaling can also acutely regulate binge alcohol consumption, anxiety, and affect in non-dependent animals, possibly via modulation of central monoaminergic signaling. We hypothesize that basal CRF tone is particularly high in animals and humans with an inherent propensity for high anxiety and alcohol consumption, and thus these individuals are at increased risk for the development of alcohol use disorder and comorbid neuropsychiatric diseases. The current review focuses on extrahypothalamic CRF circuits, particularly those stemming from the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), found to play a role in basal phenotypes, and examines whether the intrinsic hyperactivity of these circuits is sufficient to escalate the expression of these behaviors and steepen the trajectory of development of disease states. We focus our efforts on describing CRF modulation of biogenic amine neuron populations that have widespread projections to the forebrain to modulate behaviors, including alcohol and drug intake, stress reactivity, and anxiety. Further, we review the known sex differences and estradiol modulation of these neuron populations and CRF signaling at their synapses to address the question of whether females are more susceptible to the development of comorbid addiction and stress-related neuropsychiatric diseases because of hyperactive extrahypothalamic CRF circuits compared to males.
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19
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Lê AD, Funk D, Coen K, Tamadon S, Shaham Y. Role of κ-Opioid Receptors in the Bed Nucleus of Stria Terminalis in Reinstatement of Alcohol Seeking. Neuropsychopharmacology 2018; 43:838-850. [PMID: 28589966 PMCID: PMC5809779 DOI: 10.1038/npp.2017.120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2017] [Revised: 05/31/2017] [Accepted: 06/01/2017] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
κ-Opioid receptors (KORs) and their endogenous ligand dynorphin are involved in stress-induced alcohol seeking but the mechanisms involved are largely unknown. We previously showed that systemic injections of the KOR agonist U50,488, which induce stress-like aversive states, reinstate alcohol seeking after extinction of the alcohol-reinforced responding. Here, we used the neuronal activity marker Fos and site-specific injections of the KOR antagonist nor-BNI and U50,488 to study brain mechanisms of U50,488-induced reinstatement of alcohol seeking. We trained male Long-Evans rats to self-administer alcohol (12% w/v) for 23-30 days. After extinction of the alcohol-reinforced responding, we tested the effect of U50,488 (0, 1.25, 2.5, and 5 mg/kg) on reinstatement of alcohol seeking. Next, we correlated regional Fos expression with reinstatement induced by the most effective U50,488 dose (5 mg/kg). Based on the correlational Fos results, we determined the effect of bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) injections of nor-BNI (4 μg/side) on U50,488-induced reinstatement of alcohol seeking, and reinstatement induced by injections of U50,488 (0, 0.3, 1, and 3 μg/side) into the BNST. U50,488-induced reinstatement of alcohol seeking was associated with increased Fos expression in multiple brain areas, including the BNST, where it was significantly correlated with lever pressing. U50,488-induced reinstatement was blocked by BNST nor-BNI injections, and BNST U50,488 injections partially mimicked the drug's systemic effect on reinstatement. Our data indicate that the BNST is a critical site for U50,488-induced reinstatement of alcohol seeking and suggest that KOR/dynorphin mechanisms in this brain area play a key role in stress-induced alcohol seeking.
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Affiliation(s)
- A D Lê
- Neurobiology of Alcohol Laboratory, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Douglas Funk
- Neurobiology of Alcohol Laboratory, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Kathleen Coen
- Neurobiology of Alcohol Laboratory, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Sahar Tamadon
- Neurobiology of Alcohol Laboratory, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Yavin Shaham
- Behavioral Neuroscience Branch, Intramural Research Program, NIDA-NIH, Baltimore, MD, USA
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20
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Venniro M, Caprioli D, Zhang M, Whitaker LR, Zhang S, Warren BL, Cifani C, Marchant NJ, Yizhar O, Bossert JM, Chiamulera C, Morales M, Shaham Y. The Anterior Insular Cortex→Central Amygdala Glutamatergic Pathway Is Critical to Relapse after Contingency Management. Neuron 2017; 96:414-427.e8. [PMID: 29024664 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2017.09.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 111] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2017] [Revised: 08/02/2017] [Accepted: 09/12/2017] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Despite decades of research on neurobiological mechanisms of psychostimulant addiction, the only effective treatment for many addicts is contingency management, a behavioral treatment that uses alternative non-drug reward to maintain abstinence. However, when contingency management is discontinued, most addicts relapse to drug use. The brain mechanisms underlying relapse after cessation of contingency management are largely unknown, and, until recently, an animal model of this human condition did not exist. Here we used a novel rat model, in which the availability of a mutually exclusive palatable food maintains prolonged voluntary abstinence from intravenous methamphetamine self-administration, to demonstrate that the activation of monosynaptic glutamatergic projections from anterior insular cortex to central amygdala is critical to relapse after the cessation of contingency management. We identified the anterior insular cortex-to-central amygdala projection as a new addiction- and motivation-related projection and a potential target for relapse prevention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Venniro
- Behavioral Neuroscience Research Branch, Intramural Research Program, NIDA, NIH, Baltimore, MD, USA.
| | - Daniele Caprioli
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology "Vittorio Erspamer" Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Michelle Zhang
- Behavioral Neuroscience Research Branch, Intramural Research Program, NIDA, NIH, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Leslie R Whitaker
- Behavioral Neuroscience Research Branch, Intramural Research Program, NIDA, NIH, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Shiliang Zhang
- Electron Microscopy Core, Intramural Research Program, NIDA, NIH, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Brandon L Warren
- Behavioral Neuroscience Research Branch, Intramural Research Program, NIDA, NIH, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Carlo Cifani
- University of Camerino School of Pharmacy, Pharmacology Unit, Camerino, Italy
| | - Nathan J Marchant
- Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Ofer Yizhar
- Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Jennifer M Bossert
- Behavioral Neuroscience Research Branch, Intramural Research Program, NIDA, NIH, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | | | - Marisela Morales
- Integrative Neuroscience Research Branch, Intramural Research Program, NIDA, NIH, Baltimore USA
| | - Yavin Shaham
- Behavioral Neuroscience Research Branch, Intramural Research Program, NIDA, NIH, Baltimore, MD, USA.
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Roberto M, Spierling SR, Kirson D, Zorrilla EP. Corticotropin-Releasing Factor (CRF) and Addictive Behaviors. INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF NEUROBIOLOGY 2017; 136:5-51. [PMID: 29056155 PMCID: PMC6155477 DOI: 10.1016/bs.irn.2017.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Drug addiction is a complex disorder that is characterized by compulsivity to seek and take the drug, loss of control in limiting intake of the drug, and emergence of a withdrawal syndrome in the absence of the drug. The transition from casual drug use to dependence is mediated by changes in reward and brain stress functions and has been linked to a shift from positive reinforcement to negative reinforcement. The recruitment of brain stress systems mediates the negative emotional state produced by dependence that drives drug seeking through negative reinforcement mechanisms, defined as the "dark side" of addiction. In this chapter we focus on behavioral and cellular neuropharmacological studies that have implicated brain stress systems (i.e., corticotropin-releasing factor [CRF]) in the transition to addiction and the predominant brain regions involved. We also discuss the implication of CRF recruitment in compulsive eating disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marisa Roberto
- The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, United States.
| | | | - Dean Kirson
- The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, United States
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22
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Thorsell A, Mathé AA. Neuropeptide Y in Alcohol Addiction and Affective Disorders. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2017; 8:178. [PMID: 28824541 PMCID: PMC5534438 DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2017.00178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2016] [Accepted: 07/07/2017] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Neuropeptide Y (NPY), a neuropeptide highly conserved throughout evolution, is present at high levels in the central nervous system (CNS), as well as in peripheral tissues such as the gut and cardiovascular system. The peptide exerts its effects via multiple receptor subtypes, all belonging to the G-protein-coupled receptor superfamily. Of these subtypes, the Y1 and the Y2 are the most thoroughly characterized, followed by the Y5 subtype. NPY and its receptors have been shown to be of importance in central regulation of events underlying, for example, affective disorders, drug/alcohol use disorders, and energy homeostasis. Furthermore, within the CNS, NPY also affects sleep regulation and circadian rhythm, memory function, tissue growth, and plasticity. The potential roles of NPY in the etiology and pathophysiology of mood and anxiety disorders, as well as alcohol use disorders, have been extensively studied. This focus was prompted by early indications for an involvement of NPY in acute responses to stress, and, later, also data pointing to a role in alterations within the CNS during chronic, or repeated, exposure to adverse events. These functions of NPY, in addition to the peptide's regulation of disease states, suggest that modulation of the activity of the NPY system via receptor agonists/antagonists may be a putative treatment mechanism in affective disorders as well as alcohol use disorders. In this review, we present an overview of findings with regard to the NPY system in relation to anxiety and stress, acute as well as chronic; furthermore we discuss post-traumatic stress disorder and, in part depression. In addition, we summarize findings on alcohol use disorders and related behaviors. Finally, we briefly touch upon genetic as well as epigenetic mechanisms that may be of importance for NPY function and regulation. In conclusion, we suggest that modulation of NPY-ergic activity within the CNS, via ligands aimed at different receptor subtypes, may be attractive targets for treatment development for affective disorders, as well as for alcohol use disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annika Thorsell
- Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
- *Correspondence: Annika Thorsell,
| | - Aleksander A. Mathé
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
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23
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Dabrowska J, Martinon D, Moaddab M, Rainnie DG. Targeting Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Projections from the Oval Nucleus of the Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis Using Cell-Type Specific Neuronal Tracing Studies in Mouse and Rat Brain. J Neuroendocrinol 2016; 28:10.1111/jne.12442. [PMID: 27805752 PMCID: PMC5362295 DOI: 10.1111/jne.12442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2016] [Revised: 10/19/2016] [Accepted: 10/30/2016] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) is known to play a critical role in mediating the behavioural and autonomic responses to stressors. The oval nucleus of the BNST (BNSTov) contains cell bodies that synthesise the stress hormone corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF). Although afferent fibres originating from the BNSTov have been shown to innervate several key structures of the neuroendocrine and central autonomic system, the question remains as to whether some of these fibres are CRF-positive. To directly address this question, we injected a 'floxed' anterograde tracer (rAAV5/EF1a-DIO-mCherry) into the BNSTov of CRFp3.0CreGFP transgenic mice, which express a green fluorescent protein (GFP) under the control of the CRF promoter. Serial sections were then analysed for the presence of double-labelled fibres in potential projection sites. To determine whether CRF neurons in the rat BNSTov send comparable projections, we infused rat BNSTov with an adeno-associated viral vector (AAV) in which the human synapsin promoter drives enhanced GFP expression. We then used CRF immunoreactivity to examine double-labelled fluorescent fibres and axon terminals in projection sites from brain sections of the AAV-infused rats. We have observed several terminal fields in the mouse and rat brain with double-labelled fibres in the Dorsal raphe nucleus (DRD), the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus and, to a lesser extent, in the ventral tegmental area. We found double-labelled terminal boutons in the nucleus accumbens shell, prelimbic cortex and posterior basolateral nucleus of the amygdala. The most intense double-labelling was found in midbrain, including substantia nigra pars compacta, red nucleus, periaqueductal grey and pontine nuclei, as well as DRD. The results of the present study indicate that CRF neurons are the output neurons of the BNSTov and they send projections not only to the centres of neuroendocrine and autonomic regulation, but also regions modulating reward and motivation, vigilance and motor function, as well as affective behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joanna Dabrowska
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL, 60064, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL, 60064, USA
- Correspondence should be directed to: ,
| | - Daisy Martinon
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL, 60064, USA
| | - Mahsa Moaddab
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL, 60064, USA
| | - Donald G. Rainnie
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Division of Behavioral Neuroscience and Psychiatric Disorders, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30329, USA
- Correspondence should be directed to: ,
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Cason AM, Kohtz A, Aston-Jones G. Role of Corticotropin Releasing Factor 1 Signaling in Cocaine Seeking during Early Extinction in Female and Male Rats. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0158577. [PMID: 27362504 PMCID: PMC4928795 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0158577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2016] [Accepted: 06/17/2016] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Locus coeruleus norepinephrine (LC-NE) and corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) neurons are involved in stress responses, including stress’s ability to drive drug relapse. Previous animal studies indicate that female rats exhibit greater drug seeking than male rats during initial drug abstinence. Moreover, females are more sensitive to the effect of stress to drive drug seeking than males. Finally, LC-NE neurons are more sensitive to CRF in females compared to males. We hypothesized that increased drug seeking in females on extinction day one (ED1) is due to increased response to the stress of early withdrawal and is dependent upon the increased response of LC in females to CRF. We predicted that LC-NE neurons would exhibit Fos activation on ED1, and that blocking CRF1 signaling would decrease drug seeking on ED1 measured by responding on an active lever previously associated with cocaine self- administration. After chronic cocaine self-administration, female and male rats underwent a test for initial extinction responding by measuring lever pressing in the absence of cocaine. Prior to this Extinction Day 1 (ED1) session, rats were injected with vehicle or the selective CRF1 antagonist (CP) to measure effects of CRF antagonism on drug seeking during early abstinence. ED1 increased corticosterone in female rats, in proportion to lever responding in male and female, indicating that ED1 was stressful. Pretreatment with CP decreased cocaine seeking on ED1 more effectively in female compared to male rats. This increase in responding was associated with an increase in activation of LC NE neurons. Together, these findings indicate that stress, and signaling at CRF receptors in LC, may be involved in the increased drug seeking during initial abstinence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angie M. Cason
- Department of Neurosciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Amy Kohtz
- Brain Health Institute, Rutgers University/Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, Piscataway, New Jersey, United States of America
| | - Gary Aston-Jones
- Brain Health Institute, Rutgers University/Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, Piscataway, New Jersey, United States of America
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Avery SN, Clauss JA, Blackford JU. The Human BNST: Functional Role in Anxiety and Addiction. Neuropsychopharmacology 2016; 41:126-41. [PMID: 26105138 PMCID: PMC4677124 DOI: 10.1038/npp.2015.185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 191] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2015] [Revised: 05/03/2015] [Accepted: 06/17/2015] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
The consequences of chronic stress on brain structure and function are far reaching. Whereas stress can produce short-term adaptive changes in the brain, chronic stress leads to long-term maladaptive changes that increase vulnerability to psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety and addiction. These two disorders are the most prevalent psychiatric disorders in the United States, and are typically chronic, disabling, and highly comorbid. Emerging evidence implicates a tiny brain region-the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST)-in the body's stress response and in anxiety and addiction. Rodent studies provide compelling evidence that the BNST plays a central role in sustained threat monitoring, a form of adaptive anxiety, and in the withdrawal and relapse stages of addiction; however, little is known about the role of BNST in humans. Here, we review current evidence for BNST function in humans, including evidence for a role in the production of both adaptive and maladaptive anxiety. We also review preliminary evidence of the role of BNST in addiction in humans. Together, these studies provide a foundation of knowledge about the role of BNST in adaptive anxiety and stress-related disorders. Although the field is in its infancy, future investigations of human BNST function have tremendous potential to illuminate mechanisms underlying stress-related disorders and identify novel neural targets for treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- S N Avery
- Department of Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - J A Clauss
- Department of Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - J U Blackford
- Department of Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA
- Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
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Mantsch JR, Baker DA, Funk D, Lê AD, Shaham Y. Stress-Induced Reinstatement of Drug Seeking: 20 Years of Progress. Neuropsychopharmacology 2016; 41:335-56. [PMID: 25976297 PMCID: PMC4677117 DOI: 10.1038/npp.2015.142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 318] [Impact Index Per Article: 39.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2015] [Revised: 05/01/2015] [Accepted: 05/08/2015] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
In human addicts, drug relapse and craving are often provoked by stress. Since 1995, this clinical scenario has been studied using a rat model of stress-induced reinstatement of drug seeking. Here, we first discuss the generality of stress-induced reinstatement to different drugs of abuse, different stressors, and different behavioral procedures. We also discuss neuropharmacological mechanisms, and brain areas and circuits controlling stress-induced reinstatement of drug seeking. We conclude by discussing results from translational human laboratory studies and clinical trials that were inspired by results from rat studies on stress-induced reinstatement. Our main conclusions are (1) The phenomenon of stress-induced reinstatement, first shown with an intermittent footshock stressor in rats trained to self-administer heroin, generalizes to other abused drugs, including cocaine, methamphetamine, nicotine, and alcohol, and is also observed in the conditioned place preference model in rats and mice. This phenomenon, however, is stressor specific and not all stressors induce reinstatement of drug seeking. (2) Neuropharmacological studies indicate the involvement of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), noradrenaline, dopamine, glutamate, kappa/dynorphin, and several other peptide and neurotransmitter systems in stress-induced reinstatement. Neuropharmacology and circuitry studies indicate the involvement of CRF and noradrenaline transmission in bed nucleus of stria terminalis and central amygdala, and dopamine, CRF, kappa/dynorphin, and glutamate transmission in other components of the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system (ventral tegmental area, medial prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and nucleus accumbens). (3) Translational human laboratory studies and a recent clinical trial study show the efficacy of alpha-2 adrenoceptor agonists in decreasing stress-induced drug craving and stress-induced initial heroin lapse.
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Affiliation(s)
- John R Mantsch
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
| | - David A Baker
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Douglas Funk
- Center for Addiction and Mental Health, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Anh D Lê
- Center for Addiction and Mental Health, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Yavin Shaham
- Intramural Research Program, NIDA-NIH, Baltimore, MD, USA
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Ettenberg A, Cotten SW, Brito MA, Klein AK, Ohana TA, Margolin B, Wei A, Wenzel JM. CRF antagonism within the ventral tegmental area but not the extended amygdala attenuates the anxiogenic effects of cocaine in rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 2015; 138:148-55. [PMID: 26441142 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbb.2015.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2015] [Revised: 09/30/2015] [Accepted: 10/02/2015] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
In addition to its initial rewarding effects, cocaine has been shown to produce profound negative/anxiogenic actions. Recent work on the anxiogenic effects of cocaine has examined the role of corticotropin releasing factor (CRF), with particular attention paid to the CRF cell bodies resident to the extended amygdala (i.e., the central nucleus of the amygdala [CeA] and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis [BNST]) and the interconnections within and projections outside the region (e.g., to the ventral tegmental area [VTA]). In the current study, localized CRF receptor antagonism was produced by intra-BNST, intra-CeA or intra-VTA application of the CRF antagonists, D-Phe CRF(12-41) or astressin-B. The effect of these treatments were examined in a runway model of i.v. cocaine self-administration that has been shown to be sensitive to both the initial rewarding and delayed anxiogenic effects of the drug in the same animal on the same trial. These dual actions of cocaine are reflected in the development of an approach-avoidance conflict ("retreat behaviors") about goal box entry that stems from the mixed associations that subjects form about the goal. CRF antagonism within the VTA, but not the CeA or BNST, significantly reduced the frequency of approach-avoidance retreat behaviors while leaving start latencies (an index of the positive incentive properties of cocaine) unaffected. These results suggest that the critical CRF receptors contributing to the anxiogenic state associated with acute cocaine administration may lie outside the extended amygdala, and likely involve CRF projections to the VTA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron Ettenberg
- Behavioral Pharmacology Laboratory, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9660, United States.
| | - Samuel W Cotten
- Behavioral Pharmacology Laboratory, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9660, United States
| | - Michael A Brito
- Behavioral Pharmacology Laboratory, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9660, United States
| | - Adam K Klein
- Behavioral Pharmacology Laboratory, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9660, United States
| | - Tatum A Ohana
- Behavioral Pharmacology Laboratory, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9660, United States
| | - Benjamin Margolin
- Behavioral Pharmacology Laboratory, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9660, United States
| | - Alex Wei
- Behavioral Pharmacology Laboratory, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9660, United States
| | - Jennifer M Wenzel
- Behavioral Pharmacology Laboratory, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9660, United States
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Hammack SE, Todd TP, Kocho-Schellenberg M, Bouton ME. Role of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis in the acquisition of contextual fear at long or short context-shock intervals. Behav Neurosci 2015; 129:673-8. [PMID: 26348716 PMCID: PMC4586907 DOI: 10.1037/bne0000088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Rats received N-methyl-D-aspartate lesions of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) and then 10 aversive conditioning trials in which exposure to a context was paired with footshock. For half the animals, shock was presented 1 min after the onset of each context exposure; for the other half, shock was presented after 10 min. With the 1-min context duration, aversive conditioning (measured by freezing) was unaffected by BNST lesion. In contrast, at the 10-min duration, lesioned animals froze substantially less than sham controls. When 1-min-conditioned animals were left in the context for 10 min, freezing that was evident (though declining) throughout the test was not affected by the BNST lesion. When freezing over 10 min was similarly examined in the 10-min-conditioned animals, BNST lesions caused a deficit that was consistently evident over time. The results indicate that the BNST is involved in aversive conditioning to long-duration, but not merely contextual, conditional stimuli. Results may be less consistent with the view that BNST becomes activated after prolonged fear than the view that it is involved when a cue's onset has a remote temporal relation to shock.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Travis P Todd
- Department of Psychological Science, University of Vermont
| | | | - Mark E Bouton
- Department of Psychological Science, University of Vermont
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Korpi ER, den Hollander B, Farooq U, Vashchinkina E, Rajkumar R, Nutt DJ, Hyytiä P, Dawe GS. Mechanisms of Action and Persistent Neuroplasticity by Drugs of Abuse. Pharmacol Rev 2015; 67:872-1004. [DOI: 10.1124/pr.115.010967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 101] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
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Reversible Inactivation of the Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis Prevents Reinstatement But Not Renewal of Extinguished Fear. eNeuro 2015; 2:eN-NWR-0037-15. [PMID: 26464990 PMCID: PMC4586936 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0037-15.2015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2015] [Revised: 06/02/2015] [Accepted: 06/16/2015] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The extinction of conditioned fear is labile. For example, fear to an extinguished conditioned stimulus (CS) returns after presentation of an aversive stimulus ("reinstatement") or a change in context ("renewal"). Substantial research implicates the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) in the stress-induced relapse of extinguished behaviors, such as in instrumental drug seeking, but its role in the relapse of extinguished fear responses is not clear. Here, we explored the role of the BNST in both the reinstatement and renewal of fear, two forms of relapse that are differentially triggered by stress. In Experiment 1, rats received pairings of an auditory CS and footshock unconditioned stimulus (US) followed by an extinction procedure. After extinction, rats received an unsignaled US to reinstate fear to the extinguished CS. Twenty-four hours later, they were infused with either muscimol or vehicle into the BNST immediately prior to a CS retrieval test. In Experiment 2, rats were conditioned and extinguished in two distinct contexts. Twenty-four hours after extinction, the rats were infused with muscimol, NBQX, or vehicle immediately prior to a CS retrieval test in either the extinction context or a different (but familiar) context. In both experiments, freezing behavior served as the index of conditioned fear. The results revealed that BNST inactivation prevented reinstatement (Experiment 1), but not renewal (Experiment 2), of conditioned freezing to the extinguished CS. Hence, the BNST is critical for the reinstatement of extinguished fear in an aversive context, but not for the contextual retrieval processes that mediate fear renewal.
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Jaisinghani S, Rosenkranz JA. Repeated social defeat stress enhances the anxiogenic effect of bright light on operant reward-seeking behavior in rats. Behav Brain Res 2015; 290:172-9. [PMID: 25956870 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2015.04.048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2015] [Revised: 04/21/2015] [Accepted: 04/27/2015] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Repeated stress can trigger episodes of depression, along with symptoms of anhedonia and anxiety. Although often modeled separately, anxiogenic factors potently modulate hedonic, or appetitive, behavior. While repeated stress can increase anxiety and decrease appetitive behavior, it is not clear whether repeated stress can influence the impact of anxiogenic factors on appetitive behavior. This study tests whether repeated stress shifts behavior in a task that measures anxiogenic-appetitive balance. To test this, adult male rats were trained to lever press for sucrose pellet reward, and the effect of anxiogenic bright light on this behavior was measured. The impact of the bright light anxiogenic stimulus on lever pressing was compared between groups exposed to either daily repeated social defeat stress or control handling. We found that repeated stress reduced exploration in the open field and decreased social interaction, but had minimal effect on baseline lever pressing for reward. Repeated stress substantially enhanced the effect of anxiogenic bright light on lever pressing. This effect was greater two days after the last stress exposure, and began to diminish within two weeks. These data demonstrate that the anxiogenic and anhedonic features induced by repeated stress can be separately measured, and that the impact of anxiogenic stimuli can be greatly enhanced after repeated stress, even in the face of appetitive drive. The data also demonstrate that some apparent anhedonic-like effects of repeated stress can be due to increased sensitivity to anxiogenic stimuli, and may reflect an imbalance in an appetitive approach-withdrawal continuum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suraj Jaisinghani
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, The Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, 3333 Green Bay Road, North Chicago, IL 60064 USA
| | - J Amiel Rosenkranz
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, The Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, 3333 Green Bay Road, North Chicago, IL 60064 USA.
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Three distinct fiber pathways of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis to the amygdala and prefrontal cortex. Cortex 2015; 66:60-8. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2015.02.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2014] [Revised: 01/29/2015] [Accepted: 02/18/2015] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Abstract
Drug withdrawal is often conceptualized as an aversive state that motivates drug-seeking and drug-taking behaviors in humans. Stress is more difficult to define, but is also frequently associated with aversive states. Here we describe evidence for the simple theory that drug withdrawal is a stress-like state, on the basis of common effects on behavioral, neurochemical, and molecular endpoints. We also describe data suggesting a more complex relationship between drug withdrawal and stress. As one example, we will highlight evidence that, depending on drug class, components of withdrawal can produce effects that have characteristics consistent with mood elevation. In addition, some stressors can act as positive reinforcers, defined as having the ability to increase the probability of a behavior that produces it. As such, accumulating evidence supports the general principles of opponent process theory, whereby processes that have an affective valence are followed in time by an opponent process that has the opposite valence. Throughout, we identify gaps in knowledge and propose future directions for research. A better understanding of the similarities, differences, and overlaps between drug withdrawal and stress will lead to the development of improved treatments for addiction, as well as for a vast array of neuropsychiatric conditions that are triggered or exacerbated by stress.
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Importance of CRF receptor-mediated mechanisms of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis in the processing of anxiety and pain. Neuropsychopharmacology 2014; 39:2633-45. [PMID: 24853772 PMCID: PMC4207343 DOI: 10.1038/npp.2014.117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2014] [Revised: 05/16/2014] [Accepted: 05/16/2014] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF)-mediated mechanisms in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) have a pivotal role in stress-induced anxiety and hyperalgesia. Although CRF is known to activate two receptor subtypes, CRF1 and CRF2, attempts to delineate the specific role of each subtype in modulating anxiety and nociception have been inconsistent. Here we test the hypothesis that CRF1 and CRF2 receptor activation in the anteriolateral BNST (BNSTAL) facilitates divergent mechanisms modulating comorbid anxiety and hyperalgesia. Microinfusions of the specific antagonists CP376395 and Astressin2B into the BNSTAL were used to investigate CRF1 and CRF2 receptor functions, respectively. We found that CRF1 and CRF2 receptors in the BNSTAL had opposing effects on exploratory behavior in the elevated plus-maze, somatic mechanical threshold, and the autonomic and endocrine response to stress. However, CRF1 or CRF2 receptor antagonism in the BNSTAL revealed complementary roles in facilitating the acoustic startle and visceromotor reflexes. Our results suggest that the net effect of CRF1 and CRF2 receptor activation in the BNSTAL is pathway-dependent and provides important insight into the CRF receptor-associated circuitry that likely underpins stress-induced pathologies.
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α(2A)-adrenergic receptors filter parabrachial inputs to the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. J Neurosci 2014; 34:9319-31. [PMID: 25009265 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0822-14.2014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
α2-adrenergic receptors (AR) within the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) reduce stress-reward interactions in rodent models. In addition to their roles as autoreceptors, BNST α(2A)-ARs suppress glutamatergic transmission. One prominent glutamatergic input to the BNST originates from the parabrachial nucleus (PBN) and consists of asymmetric axosomatic synapses containing calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and vGluT2. Here we provide immunoelectron microscopic data showing that many asymmetric axosomatic synapses in the BNST contain α(2A)-ARs. Further, we examined optically evoked glutamate release ex vivo in BNST from mice with virally delivered channelrhodopsin2 (ChR2) expression in PBN. In BNST from these animals, ChR2 partially colocalized with CGRP, and activation generated EPSCs in dorsal anterolateral BNST neurons that elicited two cell-type-specific outcomes: (1) feedforward inhibition or (2) an EPSP that elicited firing. We found that the α(2A)-AR agonist guanfacine selectively inhibited this PBN input to the BNST, preferentially reducing the excitatory response in ex vivo mouse brain slices. To begin to assess the overall impact of α(2A)-AR control of this PBN input on BNST excitatory transmission, we used a Thy1-COP4 mouse line with little postsynaptic ChR2 expression nor colocalization of ChR2 with CGRP in the BNST. In slices from these mice, we found that guanfacine enhanced, rather than suppressed, optogenetically initiated excitatory drive in BNST. Thus, our study reveals distinct actions of PBN afferents within the BNST and suggests that α(2A)-AR agonists may filter excitatory transmission in the BNST by inhibiting a component of the PBN input while enhancing the actions of other inputs.
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Erb S, McPhee M, Brown ZJ, Kupferschmidt DA, Song L, Lovejoy DA. Repeated intravenous administrations of teneurin-C terminal associated peptide (TCAP)-1 attenuates reinstatement of cocaine seeking by corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) in rats. Behav Brain Res 2014; 269:1-5. [PMID: 24768621 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2014.04.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2013] [Revised: 03/14/2014] [Accepted: 04/07/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
The teneurin c-terminal associated peptides (TCAP) have been implicated in the regulation of the stress response, possibly via a corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF)-related mechanism. We have previously shown that repeated intracerebroventricular (ICV) injections of TCAP-1 attenuate the reinstatement of cocaine seeking by CRF in rats. Here, we determined whether intravenous (IV) administrations of TCAP-1 would likewise attenuate CRF-induced reinstatement, and whether this effect would vary depending on the rat's history of cocaine self administration. Rats were trained to self-administer cocaine for 10 days, during once daily sessions that were either 3h ("short access"; ShA) or 6h ("long access"; LgA). Rats were then given five daily injections of TCAP-1 (0, 300, or 3,000 pmol, IV) in their home cage. Subsequently, they were returned to the self-administration chambers where extinction of cocaine seeking and testing for CRF-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking was carried out. Repeated IV administrations of TCAP-1 were efficacious in attenuating CRF-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking, but at different doses in ShA and LgA rats. Taken together, the findings extend previous work showing a consistent effect of repeated ICV TCAP-1 on CRF-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking, and point to a potential therapeutic benefit of TCAP-1 in attenuating cocaine seeking behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suzanne Erb
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, ON M1C 1A4, Canada; Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, ON M1C 1A4, Canada.
| | - Matthew McPhee
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, ON M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Zenya J Brown
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, ON M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - David A Kupferschmidt
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, ON M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Lifang Song
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, ON M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - David A Lovejoy
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, ON M1C 1A4, Canada
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Joffe ME, Grueter CA, Grueter BA. Biological substrates of addiction. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2014; 5:151-171. [PMID: 24999377 PMCID: PMC4078878 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2013] [Revised: 10/01/2013] [Accepted: 11/25/2013] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
This review is an introduction to addiction, the reward circuitry, and laboratory addiction models. Addiction is a chronic disease hallmarked by a state of compulsive drug seeking that persists despite negative consequences. Most of the advances in addiction research have centered on the canonical and contemporary drugs of abuse; however, addictions to other activities and stimuli also exist. Substances of abuse have the potential to induce long-lasting changes in the brain at the behavioral, circuit, and synaptic levels. Addiction-related behavioral changes involve initiation, escalation, and obsession to drug seeking and much of the current research is focused on mapping these manifestations to specific neural pathways. Drug abuse is well known to recruit components of the mesolimbic dopamine system, including the nucleus accumbens and ventral tegmental area. In addition, altered function of a wide variety of brain regions is tightly associated with specific manifestations of drug abuse. These regions peripheral to the mesolimbic pathway likely play a role in specific observed comorbidities and endophenotypes that can facilitate, or be caused by, substance abuse. Alterations in synaptic structure, function, and connectivity, as well as epigenetic and genetic mechanisms are thought to underlie the pathologies of addiction. In preclinical models, these persistent changes are studied at the levels of molecular pharmacology and biochemistry, ex vivo and in vivo electrophysiology, radiography, and behavior. Coordinating research efforts across these disciplines and examining cell type- and circuit-specific phenomena are crucial components for translating preclinical findings to viable medical interventions that effectively treat addiction and related disorders. WIREs Cogn Sci 2014, 5:151-171. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1273 Conflict of interest: The authors have declared no conflicts of interest for this article. For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.
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Affiliation(s)
- Max E. Joffe
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
| | - Carrie A. Grueter
- Department of Anesthesiology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
| | - Brad A. Grueter
- Department of Anesthesiology, Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
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Harbour VL, Weigl Y, Robinson B, Amir S. Comprehensive mapping of regional expression of the clock protein PERIOD2 in rat forebrain across the 24-h day. PLoS One 2013; 8:e76391. [PMID: 24124556 PMCID: PMC3790676 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0076391] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2013] [Accepted: 08/28/2013] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
In mammals, a light-entrainable clock located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) regulates circadian rhythms by synchronizing oscillators throughout the brain and body. Notably, the nature of the relation between the SCN clock and subordinate oscillators in the rest of the brain is not well defined. We performed a high temporal resolution analysis of the expression of the circadian clock protein PERIOD2 (PER2) in the rat forebrain to characterize the distribution, amplitude and phase of PER2 rhythms across different regions. Eighty-four LEW/Crl male rats were entrained to a 12-h: 12-h light/dark cycle, and subsequently perfused every 30 min across the 24-h day for a total of 48 time-points. PER2 expression was assessed with immunohistochemistry and analyzed using automated cell counts. We report the presence of PER2 expression in 20 forebrain areas important for a wide range of motivated and appetitive behaviors including the SCN, bed nucleus, and several regions of the amygdala, hippocampus, striatum, and cortex. Eighteen areas displayed significant PER2 rhythms, which peaked at different times of day. Our data demonstrate a previously uncharacterized regional distribution of rhythms of a clock protein expression in the brain that provides a sound basis for future studies of circadian clock function in animal models of disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valerie L. Harbour
- Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Yuval Weigl
- Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Barry Robinson
- Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Shimon Amir
- Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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Bossert JM, Marchant NJ, Calu DJ, Shaham Y. The reinstatement model of drug relapse: recent neurobiological findings, emerging research topics, and translational research. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2013; 229:453-76. [PMID: 23685858 PMCID: PMC3770775 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-013-3120-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 355] [Impact Index Per Article: 32.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2013] [Accepted: 04/13/2013] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE Results from many clinical studies suggest that drug relapse and craving are often provoked by acute exposure to the self-administered drug or related drugs, drug-associated cues or contexts, or certain stressors. During the last two decades, this clinical scenario has been studied in laboratory animals by using the reinstatement model. In this model, reinstatement of drug seeking by drug priming, drug cues or contexts, or certain stressors is assessed following drug self-administration training and subsequent extinction of the drug-reinforced responding. OBJECTIVE In this review, we first summarize recent (2009-present) neurobiological findings from studies using the reinstatement model. We then discuss emerging research topics, including the impact of interfering with putative reconsolidation processes on cue- and context-induced reinstatement of drug seeking, and similarities and differences in mechanisms of reinstatement across drug classes. We conclude by discussing results from recent human studies that were inspired by results from rat studies using the reinstatement model. CONCLUSIONS Main conclusions from the studies reviewed highlight: (1) the ventral subiculum and lateral hypothalamus as emerging brain areas important for reinstatement of drug seeking, (2) the existence of differences in brain mechanisms controlling reinstatement of drug seeking across drug classes, (3) the utility of the reinstatement model for assessing the effect of reconsolidation-related manipulations on cue-induced drug seeking, and (4) the encouraging pharmacological concordance between results from rat studies using the reinstatement model and human laboratory studies on cue- and stress-induced drug craving.
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Stamatakis AM, Sparta DR, Jennings JH, McElligott ZA, Decot H, Stuber GD. Amygdala and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis circuitry: Implications for addiction-related behaviors. Neuropharmacology 2013; 76 Pt B:320-8. [PMID: 23752096 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2013.05.046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 98] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2013] [Revised: 05/20/2013] [Accepted: 05/22/2013] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Complex motivated behavioral processes, such as those that can go awry following substance abuse and other neuropsychiatric disorders, are mediated by a distributive network of neurons that reside throughout the brain. Neural circuits within the amygdala regions, such as the basolateral amygdala (BLA), and downstream targets such as the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), are critical neuroanatomical structures for orchestrating emotional behavioral responses that may influence motivated actions such as the reinstatement of drug seeking behavior. Here, we review the functional neurocircuitry of the BLA and the BNST, and discuss how these circuits may guide maladaptive behavioral processes such as those seen in addiction. Thus, further study of the functional connectivity within these brain regions and others may provide insight for the development of new treatment strategies for substance use disorders. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled 'NIDA 40th Anniversary Issue'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alice M Stamatakis
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Neurobiology Curriculum, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
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Jennings JH, Sparta DR, Stamatakis AM, Ung RL, Pleil KE, Kash TL, Stuber GD. Distinct extended amygdala circuits for divergent motivational states. Nature 2013; 496:224-8. [PMID: 23515155 PMCID: PMC3778934 DOI: 10.1038/nature12041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 505] [Impact Index Per Article: 45.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2012] [Accepted: 02/25/2013] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The comorbidity of anxiety and dysfunctional reward processing in illnesses such as addiction1 and depression2 suggests that common neural circuitry contributes to these disparate neuropsychiatric symptoms. The extended amygdala, including the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), modulates fear and anxiety3,4, but also projects to the ventral tegmental area (VTA) 5,6, a region implicated in reward and aversion7–13, thus providing a candidate neural substrate for integrating diverse emotional states. However, the precise functional connectivity between distinct BNST projection neurons and their postsynaptic targets in the VTA, as well as the role of this circuit in controlling motivational states have not been described. Here, we recorded and manipulated the activity of genetically and neurochemically identified VTA-projecting BNST neurons in freely behaving mice. Collectively, aversive stimuli exposure produced heterogeneous firing patterns in VTA-projecting BNST neurons. In contrast, in vivo optically-identified glutamatergic projection neurons displayed a net enhancement of activity to aversive stimuli, whereas the firing rate of identified GABAergic projection neurons was suppressed. Channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) assisted circuit mapping revealed that both BNST glutamatergic and GABAergic projections preferentially innervate postsynaptic non-dopaminergic VTA neurons, thus providing a mechanistic framework for in vivo circuit perturbations. In vivo photostimulation of BNST glutamatergic projections resulted in aversive and anxiogenic behavioral phenotypes. In contrast, activation of BNST GABAergic projections produced rewarding and anxiolytic phenotypes, which were also recapitulated by direct inhibition of VTA GABAergic neurons. These data demonstrate that functionally opposing BNST to VTA circuits regulate rewarding and aversive motivational states and may serve as a critical circuit node for bidirectionally normalizing maladaptive behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua H Jennings
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA
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Translational and reverse translational research on the role of stress in drug craving and relapse. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2011; 218:69-82. [PMID: 21494792 PMCID: PMC3192289 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-011-2263-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 143] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2010] [Accepted: 03/13/2011] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE AND BACKGROUND High relapse rates during abstinence are a pervasive problem in drug addiction treatment. Relapse is often associated with stress exposure, which can provoke a subjective state of drug craving that can also be demonstrated under controlled laboratory conditions. Stress-induced relapse and craving in humans can be modeled in mice, rats, and monkeys using a reinstatement model in which drug-taking behaviors are extinguished and then reinstated by acute exposure to certain stressors. Studies using the reinstatement model in rats have identified the role of several neurotransmitters and brain sites in stress-induced reinstatement of drug seeking, but the degree to which these preclinical findings are relevant to the human condition is largely unknown. OBJECTIVES AND HIGHLIGHTS Here, we address this topic by discussing recent results on the effect of alpha-2 adrenoceptors and substance P-NK1 receptor antagonists on stress-induced reinstatement in mice and rats and stress-induced craving and potentially stress-induced relapse in humans. We also discuss brain sites and circuits involved in stress-induced reinstatement of drug seeking in rats and those activated during stress-induced craving in humans. CONCLUSIONS There is evidence that alpha-2 adrenoceptor agonists and NK1 receptor antagonists decrease stress-induced drug seeking in rats and stress-induced craving in humans. Whether these drugs would also prevent stress-induced drug relapse in humans and whether similar or different brain mechanisms are involved in stress-induced reinstatement in non-humans and stress-induced drug craving and relapse in humans are subjects for future research.
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Variations in daily expression of the circadian clock protein, PER2, in the rat limbic forebrain during stable entrainment to a long light cycle. J Mol Neurosci 2010; 45:154-61. [PMID: 21063915 DOI: 10.1007/s12031-010-9469-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2010] [Accepted: 10/28/2010] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
The circadian clock in the mammalian suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) can be entrained by light cycles longer than the normal 24-h light/dark (LD) cycle, but little is known about the effect of such cycles on circadian clocks outside the SCN. Here we examined the effect of exposure to a 26-h T cycle (T26, 1 h:25 h LD) on patterns of expression of the clock protein, PERIOD2 (PER2), in the SCN and in four regions of the limbic forebrain known to exhibit robust circadian oscillations in PER2: the oval nucleus of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNSTov), central nucleus of the amygdala (CEA), basolateral amygdala (BLA), and dentate gyrus (DG). All rats showed stable entrainment of running wheel activity rhythms to the T26 cycle. As previously shown, PER2 expression in the SCN was stably entrained, peaking around the onset of locomotor activity. In contrast, exposure to the T26 cycle uncoupled the rhythms of PER2 expression in the BNSTov and CEA from that of the SCN, whereas PER2 rhythms in the BLA and DG were unaffected. These results show that exposure to long light cycles can uncouple circadian oscillators in select nuclei of the limbic forebrain from the SCN clock and suggest that such cycles may be used to study the functional consequences of coupling and uncoupling of brain circadian oscillators.
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Erb S. Evaluation of the relationship between anxiety during withdrawal and stress-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2010; 34:798-807. [PMID: 19969038 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2009.11.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2009] [Revised: 11/13/2009] [Accepted: 11/30/2009] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
The initial termination of cocaine consumption in human addicts is associated with heightened anxiety states and low levels of craving. Craving, however, tends to increase progressively over time, remains high for extended periods of time, and can be exacerbated by stressors, leading to relapse. Laboratory rats, likewise, exhibit heightened states of anxiety after withdrawal from drug, and follow a time course of cocaine seeking that parallels the time course of craving reported in humans. In addition, laboratory rats show heightened susceptibility to relapse when exposed to stressors after extended periods of withdrawal, and exhibit persistent and heightened expressions of stress-induced anxiety. The general objective of this paper is to consider the relationship between anxiety states after withdrawal from cocaine and stress-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking in laboratory rats, and to identify the neural substrates involved. The focus of the review is on studies addressing the roles of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) and noradrenaline pathways of the extended amygdala circuitry, and their direct or indirect interactions with the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system, in anxiety after withdrawal from cocaine and stress-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking. Furthermore, the effects of time after withdrawal from cocaine and amount of cocaine exposure during self-administration on the activity of CRF, noradrenaline, and dopamine pathways of the extended amygdala and mesocorticolimbic systems will be considered. The review will highlight how changing levels of activity within these systems may serve to alter the nature of the relationship between anxiety and stress-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking at different times after withdrawal from cocaine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suzanne Erb
- Center for Neurobiology of Stress, Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M1C 1A4.
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Interaction between noradrenaline and corticotrophin-releasing factor in the reinstatement of cocaine seeking in the rat. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2009; 203:121-30. [PMID: 18985323 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-008-1376-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2008] [Accepted: 10/10/2008] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) and noradrenaline (NA) have been shown in independent studies to mediate stress-induced reinstatement of drug seeking. To date, however, a functional interaction between the systems in reinstatement has not been demonstrated. OBJECTIVES The objectives of this study were to determine whether CRF and NA systems can interact to influence reinstatement responding and, if so, in what direction the interaction occurs. MATERIALS AND METHODS Rats were trained to self-administer cocaine (0.23 mg/kg per infusion) for 8-10 days. Subsequently, responding for drug was extinguished, and tests for reinstatement were conducted following: (1) pretreatment with the CRF receptor antagonist, D: -Phe CRF(12-41) [1 microg, intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.)], prior to i.c.v. injections of NA (10 microg; Experiment 1); (2) pretreatment with the alpha(2) adrenoceptor agonist, clonidine (40 microg/kg, i.p.), prior to i.c.v. injections of CRF (0.5 microg; Experiment 2); (3) pretreatment with D: -Phe (1, 5 microg, i.c.v.), prior to systemic injections of the alpha(2) adrenoceptor antagonist, yohimbine (1.25 mg/kg; Experiment 3A); or (4) pretreatment with clonidine (40 microg/kg, i.p.) prior to systemic injections of yohimbine (0.625 mg/kg, 1.25 mg/kg; Experiment 3B). RESULTS NA reliably induced reinstatement, an effect that was blocked by pretreatment with D: -Phe. In contrast, CRF-induced reinstatement was not attenuated by pretreatment with clonidine. Pretreatment with neither D: -Phe nor clonidine was effective in blocking yohimbine-induced reinstatement. CONCLUSION Together, the present findings suggest a functional interaction between NA and CRF systems in mediating stress-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking, whereby activation of CRF receptors occurs subsequent to, and downstream of, the sites of action of NA.
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Waddington Lamont E, Harbour VL, Barry-Shaw J, Renteria Diaz L, Robinson B, Stewart J, Amir S. Restricted access to food, but not sucrose, saccharine, or salt, synchronizes the expression of Period2 protein in the limbic forebrain. Neuroscience 2007; 144:402-11. [PMID: 17067744 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2006.09.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2006] [Revised: 09/15/2006] [Accepted: 09/17/2006] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Restricted feeding schedules (RF) in which daily access to food is limited to a few hours each day can entrain the rhythms of expression of circadian clock genes in the brain and periphery in rodents. The critical factors mediating the effect of RF on rhythms of clock gene expression are unknown. Previously, we demonstrated that daytime RF shifts the phase of expression of the clock protein, Period2 (PER2) in the oval nucleus of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis in rats kept on a 12-h light/dark cycle, and restored the rhythm of PER2 expression in rats housed in constant light. We now report that RF also modifies the rhythms of PER2 expression in the central and basolateral nuclei of the amygdala and in the dentate gyrus, such that all three areas become synchronized, peaking 12 h after the time of food presentation. Daily limited access to sucrose or saccharine in freely fed rats or scheduled access to saline in sodium-deprived rats had no effect on these PER2 rhythms. Thus, it would appear that the rhythms of PER2 in limbic forebrain structures are sensitive to signals that arise from the alleviation of a negative metabolic state associated with scheduled feeding and that access to rewarding substances in the absence of food deprivation or metabolic challenges, per se, is not sufficient to alter the rhythms of PER2 expression in these regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Waddington Lamont
- Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, SP-244, Montréal, Quebéc, Canada
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Ghitza UE, Gray SM, Epstein DH, Rice KC, Shaham Y. The anxiogenic drug yohimbine reinstates palatable food seeking in a rat relapse model: a role of CRF1 receptors. Neuropsychopharmacology 2006; 31:2188-96. [PMID: 16341025 PMCID: PMC1570156 DOI: 10.1038/sj.npp.1300964] [Citation(s) in RCA: 130] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
The major problem in treating excessive eating is high rates of relapse to maladaptive eating habits during diet treatments; this relapse is often induced by stress or anxiety states. Preclinical studies have not explored this clinical problem. Here, we adapted a reinstatement model (commonly used to study relapse to abused drugs) to examine the role of stress and anxiety in relapse to palatable food seeking during dieting. Rats were placed on restricted diet (75-80% of daily standard food) and for 12 intermittent training days (9 h/day, every other day) lever-pressed for palatable food pellets (25% fat, 48% carbohydrate) under a fixed ratio 1 (20-s timeout) reinforcement schedule. Subsequently, the rats were given 10 daily extinction sessions during which lever presses were not reinforced, and were then injected with yohimbine (an alpha-2 adrenoceptor antagonist that induces stress and anxiety in humans and non-humans) or given a single food pellet to assess reinstatement of food seeking. The rats rapidly learned to lever press for the palatable pellets and across the training days the ratio of timeout nonreinforced lever presses to reinforced lever presses progressively increased more than three-fold, suggesting the development of compulsive eating behavior. After extinction, yohimbine injections and pellet priming reliably reinstated food seeking. The corticotropin-releasing factor1 (CRF1) receptor antagonist antalarmin attenuated the reinstatement induced by yohimbine, but not pellet priming. Antalarmin also reversed yohimbine's anxiogenic effects in the social interaction test. These data suggest that CRF is involved in stress-induced relapse to palatable food seeking, and that CRF1 antagonists should be considered for the treatment of maladaptive eating habits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Udi E Ghitza
- Behavioral Neuroscience Branch, NIDA/IRP/NIH/DHHS, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Sarah M Gray
- Behavioral Neuroscience Branch, NIDA/IRP/NIH/DHHS, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - David H Epstein
- Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics Research Branch, NIDA/IRP/NIH/DHHS, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Kenner C Rice
- Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry, NIDDK/NIH/DHHS, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Yavin Shaham
- Behavioral Neuroscience Branch, NIDA/IRP/NIH/DHHS, Baltimore, MD, USA
- *Correspondence: Dr Y Shaham, Behavioral Neuroscience Branch, IRP/NIDA/NIH, 5500 Nathan Shock Drive, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA, Tel: + 1 410 550 1746, Fax: + 1 410 550 1612, E-mail:
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Shalev U, Finnie PS, Quinn T, Tobin S, Wahi P. A role for corticotropin-releasing factor, but not corticosterone, in acute food-deprivation-induced reinstatement of heroin seeking in rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2006; 187:376-84. [PMID: 16850287 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-006-0427-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2006] [Accepted: 05/05/2006] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE Acute 1-day food deprivation reinstates heroin seeking in rats via a leptin-dependent mechanism. However, leptin has no effect on footshock- or heroin-priming-induced reinstatement of drug seeking. These data may indicate that the neuronal systems underlying food-deprivation-induced reinstatement are dissociable from those involved in reinstatement induced by footshock stress. OBJECTIVES We used the reinstatement procedure to examine the roles of the adrenal stress hormone, corticosterone, and brain corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) in acute food-deprivation-induced reinstatement of extinguished heroin seeking in rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS The rats were trained to press a lever for heroin (0.05-0.1 mg/kg/infusion, i.v.) for 10 days. Experiment 1: After heroin self-administration training, the rats were divided into two groups, which received either bilateral adrenalectomy surgery or sham surgery. Next, the rats were given 7-10 days of extinction training (during which lever presses were not reinforced with heroin). The rats were subsequently tested for reinstatement after acute (21 h) food deprivation. Experiment 2: After heroin self-administration and extinction training, the rats were tested for reinstatement induced by acute food deprivation. Before the test session, the rats were given intracerebroventricular injections of the CRF receptor antagonist alpha-helical CRF (0, 3, or 10 microg/rat). RESULTS Adrenalectomy had no effect on the extinction behavior or acute food-deprivation-induced reinstatement of heroin seeking. The CRF receptor antagonist, alpha-helical CRF, dose-dependently blocked food-deprivation-induced reinstatement. CONCLUSIONS The present data suggest that, as demonstrated for footshock-induced reinstatement of drug seeking, brain CRF, but not corticosterone, plays a critical role in acute food-deprivation-induced reinstatement of heroin seeking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Uri Shalev
- Department of Psychology, Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
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Wang J, Fang Q, Liu Z, Lu L. Region-specific effects of brain corticotropin-releasing factor receptor type 1 blockade on footshock-stress- or drug-priming-induced reinstatement of morphine conditioned place preference in rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2006; 185:19-28. [PMID: 16374599 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-005-0262-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 108] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2005] [Accepted: 10/24/2005] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE Systemic injections of the selective corticotropin-releasing factor 1 (CRF1) receptor antagonist CP-154,526 attenuate footshock-stress-induced reinstatement of heroin and cocaine seeking and morphine conditioned place preference (CPP). Intracranial injections of the nonselective CRF receptor antagonist D-Phe-CRF into the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), but not the amygdala, attenuate footshock-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking. However, the brain sites involved in the effect of CP-154,526 on footshock-induced reinstatement of opiate seeking are unknown. OBJECTIVE We used a CPP version of the reinstatement model to examine the role of CRF1 receptors in the BNST, amygdala, and nucleus accumbens (NAc) in footshock- or drug-priming-induced reinstatement of extinguished morphine CPP. METHODS Rats acquired morphine CPP over a period of 8 days during which they were given four morphine (10 mg/kg s.c.) and four saline injections and were subsequently confined to distinct chambers for 50 min. Subsequently, the morphine CPP was extinguished in 14 daily sessions during which rats were given saline injections and given access to both the saline- and morphine-paired chambers. The rats were then tested for reinstatement of morphine CPP induced by priming injections of morphine (0 or 3.0 mg/kg s.c.) or by exposure to intermittent footshock (15 min, 0.5 mA). Prior to the test sessions, the rats were given intracranial injections of CP-154,526 (1.0 microg) or vehicle into the BNST, amygdala, or NAc. RESULTS CP-154,526 injections into the BNST, but not the amygdala or NAc, attenuated footshock-stress-induced reinstatement of morphine CPP. In contrast, CP-154,526 injections into the amygdala or NAc, but not the BNST, attenuated morphine-priming-induced reinstatement of morphine CPP. CONCLUSION The present results demonstrate dissociable roles of CRF1 receptors in the BNST, amygdala, and NAc in footshock-stress- vs morphine-priming-induced reinstatement of drug CPP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jishi Wang
- Department of Pharmacology, The Affiliated Hospital of Guiyang Medical College, Guiyang 550004, China
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