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Li Z, Li J, Wei Y, Zou W, Vidjro OE, Wang J, Zhou L, Zhu Y, Ma T. Anterior and Posterior Basolateral Amygdala Projections of Cell Type-Specific D1-Expressing Neurons From the Medial Prefrontal Cortex Differentially Control Alcohol-Seeking Behavior. Biol Psychiatry 2024; 95:963-973. [PMID: 37952812 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2023.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2023] [Revised: 10/26/2023] [Accepted: 11/01/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Alcohol use disorder is characterized by compulsive alcohol-seeking behavior, which is associated with dysregulation of afferent projections from the medial prefrontal cortex to the basolateral amygdala (BLA). However, the contribution of the cell type-specific mechanism in this neuronal circuit to alcohol-seeking behavior remains unclear. METHODS Mice were trained with 2-bottle choice and operant alcohol self-administration procedures. Anterograde and retrograde viral methods traced the connection between dopamine type 1 receptor (D1R) neurons and BLA neurons. Electrophysiology and in vivo optogenetic techniques were used to test the function of neural circuits in alcohol-seeking behavior. RESULTS Chronic alcohol consumption preferentially changed the activity of posterior BLA (pBLA) neurons but not anterior BLA (aBLA) neurons and overexcited D1R neurons in the medial prefrontal cortex. Interestingly, we found that 2 populations of D1R neurons, anterior and posterior (pD1R) neurons, separately targeted the aBLA and pBLA, respectively, and only a few D1R neurons innervated both aBLA and pBLA neurons. Furthermore, pD1R neurons exhibited more excitability than anterior D1R neurons in alcohol-drinking mice. Moreover, we observed enhanced glutamatergic transmission and an increased NMDA/AMPA receptor ratio in the medial prefrontal cortex inputs from pD1R neurons to the pBLA. Optogenetic long-term depression induction of the pD1R-pBLA circuit reduced alcohol-seeking behavior, while optogenetic long-term depression or long-term potentiation induction of the anterior D1R-aBLA circuit produced no change in alcohol intake. CONCLUSIONS The pD1R-pBLA circuit mediates chronic alcohol consumption, which may suggest a cell type-specific neuronal mechanism underlying reward-seeking behavior in alcohol use disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ziyi Li
- Institute for Stem Cell and Neural Regeneration and Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular & Cerebrovascular Medicine, School of Pharmacy, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Jiaxin Li
- Institute for Stem Cell and Neural Regeneration and Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular & Cerebrovascular Medicine, School of Pharmacy, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Yanxia Wei
- Institute for Stem Cell and Neural Regeneration and Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular & Cerebrovascular Medicine, School of Pharmacy, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Wanying Zou
- Institute for Stem Cell and Neural Regeneration and Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular & Cerebrovascular Medicine, School of Pharmacy, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Olivia Ewi Vidjro
- Institute for Stem Cell and Neural Regeneration and Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular & Cerebrovascular Medicine, School of Pharmacy, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Jun Wang
- Department of Toxicology, the Key laboratory of Modern Toxicology of Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Li Zhou
- Department of Anesthesiology, Women's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China; Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neurodegeneration, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Yongsheng Zhu
- College of Forensic Science, Key Laboratory of National Health Commission for Forensic Science, National Biosafety Evidence Foundation, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
| | - Tengfei Ma
- Institute for Stem Cell and Neural Regeneration and Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular & Cerebrovascular Medicine, School of Pharmacy, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China; Department of Toxicology, the Key laboratory of Modern Toxicology of Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
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Belelli D, Riva A, Nutt DJ. Reducing the harms of alcohol: nutritional interventions and functional alcohol alternatives. INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF NEUROBIOLOGY 2024; 175:241-276. [PMID: 38555118 DOI: 10.1016/bs.irn.2024.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/02/2024]
Abstract
The health risks and harm associated with regular alcohol consumption are well documented. In a recent WHO statement published in The Lancet Public Health alcohol consumption has been estimated to contribute worldwide to 3 million deaths in 2016 while also being responsible for 5·1% of the global burden of disease and injury. The total elimination of alcohol consumption, which has been long imbedded in human culture and society, is not practical and prohibition policies have proved historically ineffective. However, valuable strategies to reduce alcohol harms are already available and improved alternative approaches are currently being developed. Here, we will review and discuss recent advances on two main types of approaches, that is nutritional interventions and functional alcohol alternatives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Delia Belelli
- GABALabs Res. Senior Scientific Consultant, United Kingdom
| | - Antonio Riva
- Roger Williams Institute of Hepatology (Foundation for Liver Research), London; Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King's College London, London
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Farahbakhsh ZZ, Holleran KM, Sens JP, Fordahl SC, Mauterer MI, López AJ, Cuzon Carlson VC, Kiraly DD, Grant KA, Jones SR, Siciliano CA. Synchrony between midbrain gene transcription and dopamine terminal regulation is modulated by chronic alcohol drinking. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.03.15.584711. [PMID: 38559169 PMCID: PMC10979957 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.15.584711] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
Alcohol use disorder is marked by disrupted behavioral and emotional states which persist into abstinence. The enduring synaptic alterations that remain despite the absence of alcohol are of interest for interventions to prevent relapse. Here, 28 male rhesus macaques underwent over 20 months of alcohol drinking interspersed with three 30-day forced abstinence periods. After the last abstinence period, we paired direct sub-second dopamine monitoring via ex vivo voltammetry in nucleus accumbens slices with RNA-sequencing of the ventral tegmental area. We found persistent augmentation of dopamine transporter function, kappa opioid receptor sensitivity, and dynorphin release - all inhibitory regulators which act to decrease extracellular dopamine. Surprisingly, though transcript expression was not altered, the relationship between gene expression and functional readouts of these encoded proteins was highly dynamic and altered by drinking history. These results outline the long-lasting synaptic impact of alcohol use and suggest that assessment of transcript-function relationships is critical for the rational design of precision therapeutics.
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Doyle MA, Taylor A, Winder DG. Neural Circuitries and Alcohol Use Disorder: Cutting Corners in the Cycle. Curr Top Behav Neurosci 2023. [PMID: 38082108 DOI: 10.1007/7854_2023_454] [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] [Indexed: 02/19/2024]
Abstract
An implicit tenet of the alcohol use disorder (AUD) research field is that knowledge of how alcohol interacts with the brain is critical to the development of an understanding of vulnerability to AUD and treatment approaches. Gaining this understanding requires the mapping of brain function critical to specific components of this heterogeneous disorder. Early approaches in humans and animal models focused on the determination of specific brain regions sensitive to alcohol action and their participation in AUD-relevant behaviors. Broadly speaking, this research has focused on three domains, Binge/Intoxication, Negative Affect/Withdrawal, and Preoccupation/Anticipation, with a number of regions identified as participating in each. With the generational advances in technologies that the field of neuroscience has undergone over the last two decades, this focus has shifted to a circuit-based analysis. A wealth of new data has sharpened the field's focus on the specific roles of the interconnectivity of multiple brain regions in AUD and AUD-relevant behaviors, as well as demonstrating that the three major domains described above have much fuzzier edges than originally thought.In this chapter, we very briefly review brain regions previously implicated in aspects of AUD-relevant behavior from animal model research. Next, we move to a more in-depth overview of circuit-based approaches, and the utilization of these approaches in current AUD research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie A Doyle
- Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Anne Taylor
- Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Danny G Winder
- Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA.
- Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA.
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA.
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