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Ferrante JR, Blendy JA. Advances in animal models of prenatal opioid exposure. Trends Neurosci 2024; 47:367-382. [PMID: 38614891 PMCID: PMC11096018 DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2024.03.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2024] [Revised: 02/20/2024] [Accepted: 03/15/2024] [Indexed: 04/15/2024]
Abstract
Neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS) is a growing public health concern. The complexity of in utero opioid exposure in clinical studies makes it difficult to investigate underlying mechanisms that could ultimately inform early diagnosis and treatments. Clinical studies are unable to dissociate the influence of maternal polypharmacy or the environment from direct effects of in utero opioid exposure, highlighting the need for effective animal models. Early animal models of prenatal opioid exposure primarily used the prototypical opioid, morphine, and opioid exposure that was often limited to a narrow period during gestation. In recent years, the number of preclinical studies has grown rapidly. Newer models utilize both prescription and nonprescription opioids and vary the onset and duration of opioid exposure. In this review, we summarize novel prenatal opioid exposure models developed in recent years and attempt to reconcile results between studies while critically identifying gaps within the current literature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia R Ferrante
- Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Julie A Blendy
- Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
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Madurai NK, Jantzie LL, Yen E. Sex differences in neonatal outcomes following prenatal opioid exposure. Front Pediatr 2024; 12:1357970. [PMID: 38577634 PMCID: PMC10991792 DOI: 10.3389/fped.2024.1357970] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2023] [Accepted: 03/04/2024] [Indexed: 04/06/2024] Open
Abstract
The impact of the opioid epidemic on pregnant people and children is a growing public health crisis. Understanding how opioids affect the developing brain during pregnancy and postnatally remains a critical area of investigation. Biological sex plays a crucial role in all physiologic processes, with the potential for a significant impact on neonatal outcomes, including those infants with opioid exposure. Here, we aim to explore current literature on the effect of sex on neonatal outcomes following prenatal opioid exposure. Sex differences in adults with opioid use disorder have been well studied, including increased mortality among males and higher rates of psychiatric comorbidities and likelihood of relapse in females. However, such differences are not yet well understood in neonates. Emerging clinical data suggest sex-specific effects in infants with prenatal opioid exposure on the expression of genes related to feeding regulation and reward signaling pathways. Increased susceptibility to white matter injury has also been noted in female infants following prenatal opioid exposure. Understanding the impact of sex as a biological variable on neonatal outcomes following prenatal opioid exposure is paramount to improving the health and well-being of infants, children, and adults impacted by the opioid epidemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nethra K. Madurai
- Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Lauren L. Jantzie
- Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
- Department of Neurodevelopmental Medicine, Phelps Center for Cerebral Palsy and Neurodevelopmental Medicine, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, United States
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
- Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Elizabeth Yen
- Mother Infant Research Institute (MIRI), Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Tufts Medicine Pediatrics-Boston Children's, Boston, MA, United States
- Department of Pediatrics, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States
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Olusakin J, Kumar G, Basu M, Calarco CA, Fox ME, Alipio JB, Haga C, Turner MD, Keller A, Ament SA, Lobo MK. Transcriptomic profiling of reward and sensory brain areas in perinatal fentanyl exposed juvenile mice. Neuropsychopharmacology 2023; 48:1724-1734. [PMID: 37400565 PMCID: PMC10579237 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-023-01639-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2023] [Revised: 06/14/2023] [Accepted: 06/16/2023] [Indexed: 07/05/2023]
Abstract
Use of the synthetic opioid fentanyl increased ~300% in the last decade, including among women of reproductive ages. Adverse neonatal outcomes and long-term behavioral disruptions are associated with perinatal opioid exposure. Our previous work demonstrated that perinatal fentanyl exposed mice displayed enhanced negative affect and somatosensory circuit and behavioral disruptions during adolescence. However, little is known about molecular adaptations across brain regions that underlie these outcomes. We performed RNA sequencing across three reward and two sensory brain areas to study transcriptional programs in perinatal fentanyl exposed juvenile mice. Pregnant dams received 10 μg/ml fentanyl in the drinking water from embryonic day 0 (E0) through gestational periods until weaning at postnatal day 21 (P21). RNA was extracted from nucleus accumbens (NAc), prelimbic cortex (PrL), ventral tegmental area (VTA), somatosensory cortex (S1) and ventrobasal thalamus (VBT) from perinatal fentanyl exposed mice of both sexes at P35. RNA sequencing was performed, followed by analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and gene co-expression networks. Transcriptome analysis revealed DEGs and gene modules significantly associated with exposure to perinatal fentanyl in a sex-wise manner. The VTA had the most DEGs, while robust gene enrichment occurred in NAc. Genes enriched in mitochondrial respiration were pronounced in NAc and VTA of perinatal fentanyl exposed males, extracellular matrix (ECM) and neuronal migration enrichment were pronounced in NAc and VTA of perinatal fentanyl exposed males, while genes associated with vesicular cycling and synaptic signaling were markedly altered in NAc of perinatal fentanyl exposed female mice. In sensory areas from perinatal fentanyl exposed females, we found alterations in mitochondrial respiration, synaptic and ciliary organization processes. Our findings demonstrate distinct transcriptomes across reward and sensory brain regions, with some showing discordance between sexes. These transcriptome adaptations may underlie structural, functional, and behavioral changes observed in perinatal fentanyl exposed mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jimmy Olusakin
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Gautam Kumar
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Mahashweta Basu
- Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Cali A Calarco
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Megan E Fox
- Department of Anesthesiology, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA
| | - Jason B Alipio
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Catherine Haga
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Makeda D Turner
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Asaf Keller
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Seth A Ament
- Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Mary Kay Lobo
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
- Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
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Haggerty DL, Grecco GG, Huang JY, Doud EH, Mosley AL, Lu HC, Atwood BK. Prenatal methadone exposure selectively alters protein expression in primary motor cortex: Implications for synaptic function. Front Pharmacol 2023; 14:1124108. [PMID: 36817148 PMCID: PMC9928955 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1124108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2022] [Accepted: 01/16/2023] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
As problematic opioid use has reached epidemic levels over the past 2 decades, the annual prevalence of opioid use disorder (OUD) in pregnant women has also increased 333%. Yet, how opioids affect the developing brain of offspring from mothers experiencing OUD remains understudied and not fully understood. Animal models of prenatal opioid exposure have discovered many deficits in the offspring of prenatal opioid exposed mothers, such as delays in the development of sensorimotor function and long-term locomotive hyperactivity. In attempt to further understand these deficits and link them with protein changes driven by prenatal opioid exposure, we used a mouse model of prenatal methadone exposure (PME) and preformed an unbiased multi-omic analysis across many sensoriomotor brain regions known to interact with opioid exposure. The effects of PME exposure on the primary motor cortex (M1), primary somatosensory cortex (S1), the dorsomedial striatum (DMS), and dorsolateral striatum (DLS) were assessed using quantitative proteomics and phosphoproteomics. PME drove many changes in protein and phosphopeptide abundance across all brain regions sampled. Gene and gene ontology enrichments were used to assess how protein and phosphopeptide changes in each brain region were altered. Our findings showed that M1 was uniquely affected by PME in comparison to other brain regions. PME uniquely drove changes in M1 glutamatergic synapses and synaptic function. Immunohistochemical analysis also identified anatomical differences in M1 for upregulating the density of glutamatergic and downregulating the density of GABAergic synapses due to PME. Lastly, comparisons between M1 and non-M1 multi-omics revealed conserved brain wide changes in phosphopeptides associated with synaptic activity and assembly, but only specific protein changes in synapse activity and assembly were represented in M1. Together, our studies show that lasting changes in synaptic function driven by PME are largely represented by protein and anatomical changes in M1, which may serve as a starting point for future experimental and translational interventions that aim to reverse the adverse effects of PME on offspring.
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Affiliation(s)
- David L. Haggerty
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States
| | - Gregory G. Grecco
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States
- Indiana University School of Medicine, Medical Scientist Training Program, Indianapolis, IN, United States
| | - Jui-Yen Huang
- The Linda and Jack Gill Center for Biomolecular Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, United States
- Program in Neuroscience and Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, United States
| | - Emma H. Doud
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States
| | - Amber L. Mosley
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States
| | - Hui-Chen Lu
- The Linda and Jack Gill Center for Biomolecular Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, United States
- Program in Neuroscience and Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, United States
| | - Brady K. Atwood
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States
- Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States
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Simmons SC, Grecco GG, Atwood BK, Nugent FS. Effects of prenatal opioid exposure on synaptic adaptations and behaviors across development. Neuropharmacology 2023; 222:109312. [PMID: 36334764 PMCID: PMC10314127 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2022.109312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2022] [Revised: 10/26/2022] [Accepted: 10/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
In this review, we focus on prenatal opioid exposure (POE) given the significant concern for the mental health outcomes of children with parents affected by opioid use disorder (OUD) in the view of the current opioid crisis. We highlight some of the less explored interactions between developmental age and sex on synaptic plasticity and associated behavioral outcomes in preclinical POE research. We begin with an overview of the rich literature on hippocampal related behaviors and plasticity across POE exposure paradigms. We then discuss recent work on reward circuit dysregulation following POE. Additional risk factors such as early life stress (ELS) could further influence synaptic and behavioral outcomes of POE. Therefore, we include an overview on the use of preclinical ELS models where ELS exposure during key critical developmental periods confers considerable vulnerability to addiction and stress psychopathology. Here, we hope to highlight the similarity between POE and ELS on development and maintenance of opioid-induced plasticity and altered opioid-related behaviors where similar enduring plasticity in reward circuits may occur. We conclude the review with some of the limitations that should be considered in future investigations. This article is part of the Special Issue on 'Opioid-induced addiction'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah C Simmons
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Therapeutics, School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Greg G Grecco
- Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Medical Scientist Training Program, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA
| | - Brady K Atwood
- Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA
| | - Fereshteh S Nugent
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Therapeutics, School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA.
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