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Lehmann CM, Miller NE, Nair VS, Costa KM, Schoenbaum G, Moussawi K. Generalized cue reactivity in dopamine neurons after opioids. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.06.02.597025. [PMID: 38853878 PMCID: PMC11160774 DOI: 10.1101/2024.06.02.597025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2024]
Abstract
Cue reactivity is the maladaptive neurobiological and behavioral response upon exposure to drug cues and is a major driver of relapse. The leading hypothesis is that dopamine release by addictive drugs represents a persistently positive reward prediction error that causes runaway enhancement of dopamine responses to drug cues, leading to their pathological overvaluation compared to non-drug reward alternatives. However, this hypothesis has not been directly tested. Here we developed Pavlovian and operant procedures to measure firing responses, within the same dopamine neurons, to drug versus natural reward cues, which we found to be similarly enhanced compared to cues predicting natural rewards in drug-naïve controls. This enhancement was associated with increased behavioral reactivity to the drug cue, suggesting that dopamine release is still critical to cue reactivity, albeit not as previously hypothesized. These results challenge the prevailing hypothesis of cue reactivity, warranting new models of dopaminergic function in drug addiction, and provide critical insights into the neurobiology of cue reactivity with potential implications for relapse prevention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Collin M. Lehmann
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh; Pittsburgh, 15219, USA
| | - Nora E. Miller
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh; Pittsburgh, 15219, USA
| | - Varun S. Nair
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh; Pittsburgh, 15219, USA
| | - Kauê M. Costa
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham; Birmingham, 35233, USA
| | - Geoffrey Schoenbaum
- National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health; Baltimore, 21224, USA
| | - Khaled Moussawi
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh; Pittsburgh, 15219, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco; San Francisco, 94158, USA
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Luján MÁ, Young-Morrison R, Aroni S, Katona I, Melis M, Cheer J. Dynamic Overrepresentation of Accumbal Cues in Food- and Opioid-Seeking Rats after Prenatal THC Exposure. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.05.06.592839. [PMID: 38766015 PMCID: PMC11100737 DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.06.592839] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2024]
Abstract
The increasing prevalence of cannabis use during pregnancy has raised significant medical concerns, primarily related to the presence of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which readily crosses the placenta and impacts fetal brain development. Previous research has identified midbrain dopaminergic neuronal alterations related to maternal THC consumption. However, the enduring consequences that prenatal cannabis exposure (PCE) has on striatum-based processing during voluntary reward pursuit have not been specifically determined. Here, we characterize PCE rats during food (palatable pellets) or opioid (remifentanyl)-maintained reward seeking. We find that the supra motivational phenotype of PCE rats is independent of value-based processing and is instead related to augmented reinforcing efficiency of opioid rewards. Our findings reveal that in utero THC exposure leads to increased cue-evoked dopamine release responses and an overrepresentation of cue-aligned, effort-driven striatal patterns of encoding. Recapitulating findings in humans, drug-related neurobiological adaptations of PCE were more pronounced in males, who similarly showed increased vulnerability for relapse. Collectively, these findings indicate that prenatal THC exposure in male rats engenders a pronounced neurodevelopmental susceptibility to addiction-like disorders later in life.
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Kuhn BN, Cannella N, Crow AD, Roberts AT, Lunerti V, Allen C, Nall RW, Hardiman G, Woods LCS, Chung D, Ciccocioppo R, Kalivas PW. Novelty-induced locomotor behavior predicts heroin addiction vulnerability in male, but not female, rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2022; 239:3605-3620. [PMID: 36112154 PMCID: PMC9632364 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-022-06235-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2022] [Accepted: 09/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE The ongoing rise in opioid use disorder (OUD) has made it imperative to better model the individual variation within the human population that contributes to OUD vulnerability. Using animal models that capture such variation can be a useful tool. Individual variation in novelty-induced locomotion is predictive of substance use disorder (SUD) propensity. In this model, rats are characterized as high-responders (HR) or low-responders (LR) using a median split based on distance travelled during a locomotor test, and HR rats are generally found to exhibit a more SUD vulnerable behavioral phenotype. OBJECTIVES The HR/LR model has commonly been used to assess behaviors in male rats using psychostimulants, with limited knowledge of the predictive efficacy of this model in females or the use of an opioid as the reward. In the current study, we assessed several behaviors across the different phases of drug addiction (heroin taking, refraining, and seeking) in over 500 male and female heterogeneous stock rats run at two geographically separate locations. Rats were characterized as HRs or LRs within each sex for analysis. RESULTS Overall, females exhibit a more OUD vulnerable phenotype relative to males. Additionally, the HR/LR model was predictive of OUD-like behaviors in male, but not female rats. Furthermore, phenotypes did not differ in anxiety-related behaviors, reacquisition of heroin-taking, or punished heroin-taking behavior in either sex. CONCLUSIONS These results emphasize the importance of assessing females in models of individual variation in SUD and highlight limitations in using the HR/LR model to assess OUD propensity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brittany N Kuhn
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, 173 Ashley Avenue, BSB 403-MSC 510, Charleston, SC, 29425, USA.
| | | | - Ayteria D Crow
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, 173 Ashley Avenue, BSB 403-MSC 510, Charleston, SC, 29425, USA
| | - Analyse T Roberts
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, 173 Ashley Avenue, BSB 403-MSC 510, Charleston, SC, 29425, USA
| | | | - Carter Allen
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Rusty W Nall
- Department of Psychology, Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, AL, USA
| | - Gary Hardiman
- School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
| | | | - Dongjun Chung
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | | | - Peter W Kalivas
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, 173 Ashley Avenue, BSB 403-MSC 510, Charleston, SC, 29425, USA
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Chang SE, Krueger LD, Flagel SB. Investigating individual differences in opioid-taking and opioid-seeking behavior in male rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2022; 239:1065-1080. [PMID: 34981179 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-021-06023-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2021] [Accepted: 11/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE Understanding the behavioral and neurobiological factors that render some individuals more susceptible than others to opioid addiction will be critical in combatting the opioid crisis. OBJECTIVE The purpose of the current study was to determine if behavioral traits associated with an increased likelihood to take and seek cocaine are the same traits that render one more susceptible to opioid-taking and opioid-seeking behavior. Individual differences in the acquisition of remifentanil self-administration and subsequent cue-induced reinstatement of remifentanil-seeking behavior were investigated using two animal models: the high-responder (HR)/low-responder (LR) and sign-tracker (ST)/goal-tracker (GT) models. Relative to LR rats, HR rats show increased novelty-induced locomotion or "sensation-seeking" behavior, and are more likely to acquire cocaine-taking behavior and do so at a faster rate. Relative to GT rats, ST rats attribute greater incentive motivational value to reward cues and are more likely to exhibit reinstatement of cocaine-seeking behavior. RESULTS In contrast to previous work using cocaine, we did not observe individual differences with respect to the acquisition of remifentanil self-administration- or cue-induced reinstatement of remifentanil-seeking behavior within the context of either the HR/LR or ST/GT model. Thus, neither the sensation-seeking trait nor the propensity to attribute incentive motivational value to reward cues predicts remifentanil-taking or remifentanil-seeking behavior. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that different traits may confer the initiation of opioid- vs. cocaine-taking behavior, and the propensity to relapse to opioid- vs. cocaine-seeking. Additional studies are needed to identify which neurobehavioral constructs confer liability to opioid use and relapse.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen E Chang
- Michigan Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Lauren D Krueger
- Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.,Office of Comparative Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Shelly B Flagel
- Michigan Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. .,Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
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Smith AP, Beckmann JS. Quantifying value-based determinants of drug and non-drug decision dynamics. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2021; 238:2047-2057. [PMID: 33839902 PMCID: PMC8529627 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-021-05830-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2020] [Accepted: 03/15/2021] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
RATIONALE A growing body of research suggests that substance use disorder (SUD) may be characterized as disorders of decision making. However, drug choice studies assessing drug-associated decision making often lack more complex and dynamic conditions that better approximate contexts outside the laboratory and may lead to incomplete conclusions regarding the nature of drug-associated value. OBJECTIVES The current study assessed isomorphic (choice between identical food options) and allomorphic (choice between remifentanil [REMI] and food) choice across dynamically changing reward probabilities, magnitudes, and differentially reward-predictive stimuli in male rats to better understand determinants of drug value. Choice data were analyzed at aggregate and choice-by-choice levels using quantitative matching and reinforcement learning (RL) models, respectively. RESULTS Reductions in reward probability or magnitude independently reduced preferences for food and REMI commodities. Inclusion of reward-predictive cues significantly increased preference for food and REMI rewards. Model comparisons revealed that reward-predictive stimuli significantly altered the economic substitutability of food and REMI rewards at both levels of analysis. Furthermore, model comparisons supported the reformulation of reward value updating in RL models from independent terms to a shared, relative term, more akin to matching models. CONCLUSIONS The results indicate that value-based quantitative choice models can accurately capture choice determinants within complex decision-making contexts and corroborate drug choice as a multidimensional valuation process. Collectively, the present study indicates commonalities in decision-making for drug and non-drug rewards, validates the use of economic-based SUD therapies (e.g., contingency management), and implicates the neurobehavioral processes underlying drug-associated decision-making as a potential avenue for future SUD treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron P Smith
- Cofrin Logan Center for Addiction Research and Treatment, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
| | - Joshua S Beckmann
- Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA.
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Porter-Stransky KA, Bentzley BS, Aston-Jones G. Individual differences in orexin-I receptor modulation of motivation for the opioid remifentanil. Addict Biol 2017; 22:303-317. [PMID: 26598295 DOI: 10.1111/adb.12323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2015] [Revised: 08/29/2015] [Accepted: 09/30/2015] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Orexin-1 receptors (Ox1Rs) have been implicated in the motivation for drugs of abuse. Here, we utilized a within-session behavioral-economics threshold procedure to screen for individual differences in economic demand for the ultra-short-acting opioid remifentanil and to test whether antagonism of Ox1Rs reduces remifentanil demand. The behavioral-economics procedure revealed robust individual differences in free consumption of remifentanil (Q0 parameter; hedonic set point). Rats with low baseline Q0 (low takers) displayed high demand elasticity (α parameter; reduced responding as drug price increased indicating low motivation for drug), whereas subjects with a higher Q0 (high takers) exhibit low demand elasticity (low α) by continuing to self-administer remifentanil despite increased cost (reflecting higher motivation for drug). In a punished responding paradigm utilizing footshock, subjects that were classified as high takers at baseline withstood twice as much shock as low takers to continue self-administering remifentanil. Interestingly, Ox1R antagonism with SB-334867 reduced Q0 and increased α in low takers but not in high takers. Similarly, the Ox1R antagonist attenuated cue-induced, but not drug-induced, reinstatement of remifentanil seeking in low takers but had no significant effect on reinstatement of drug seeking in high takers. Together, these data reveal a novel role of orexins in demand for remifentanil: Ox1Rs modulate demand in low takers but not in individuals that exhibit addictive-like behaviors (high takers). Finally, the behavioral assays in this study can serve as a novel laboratory model for studying individual differences in opioid use disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Brandon S. Bentzley
- Department of Neurosciences; Medical University of South Carolina; Charleston SC USA
| | - Gary Aston-Jones
- Department of Neurosciences; Medical University of South Carolina; Charleston SC USA
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Effects of sex and remifentanil dose on rats' acquisition of responding for a remifentanil-conditioned reinforcer. Behav Pharmacol 2016; 27:137-47. [PMID: 26580131 DOI: 10.1097/fbp.0000000000000205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Opioid-conditioned reinforcement is thought to exacerbate opioid abuse and dependence. Sex/gender can influence opioid abuse behaviors, but the effects of sex/gender on opioid-conditioned reinforcement, specifically, are unclear. In this study, we compared new-response acquisition with opioid-conditioned reinforcement in male and female rats. First, separate groups received response-independent remifentanil injections (0.0-32.0 μg/kg, intravenous) and presentations of a light-noise stimulus. In the experimental groups, injections and stimulus presentations always co-occurred [paired Pavlovian conditioning (PAV)]; in the control groups, the two occurred independently of each other (random PAV). Next, in the instrumental acquisition (ACQ) sessions, two novel nose-poke manipulanda were introduced. All animals (regardless of sex, dose, and PAV type) could respond in the active nose-poke, which produced the stimulus alone, or in the inactive nose-poke. Both males and females dose-dependently acquired nose-poke responding (active>inactive) after paired PAV, but not after random PAV. Therefore, the stimulus was a conditioned reinforcer. We identified three sex differences. First, only females acquired responding after paired PAV with 32.0 μg/kg remifentanil. Second, using a progressive ratio schedule for ACQ, both sexes acquired responding, but females made significantly more active responses. Third, when a single session of PAV was conducted, only males acquired responding. Thus, rats' sex interacts with pharmacological and environmental factors to determine opioid-conditioned reinforcement.
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Dose of intraoperative remifentanil administration is independently associated with increase in the risk of postoperative nausea and vomiting in elective mastectomy under general anesthesia. J Clin Anesth 2016; 34:227-31. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jclinane.2016.04.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2015] [Revised: 04/08/2016] [Accepted: 04/11/2016] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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Yalcin-Siedentopf N, Wartelsteiner F, Kaufmann A, Biedermann F, Edlinger M, Kemmler G, Rettenbacher MA, Widschwendter CG, Zernig G, Fleischhacker WW, Hofer A. Measuring adherence to medication in schizophrenia: the relationship between attitudes toward drug therapy and plasma levels of new-generation antipsychotics. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol 2015; 18:pyu091. [PMID: 25522423 PMCID: PMC4376546 DOI: 10.1093/ijnp/pyu091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Nonadherence to medication is still a major problem in the treatment of schizophrenia. The current longitudinal study investigated whether the patients' attitudes toward treatment correlated with the ratio of observed vs expected plasma levels of antipsychotic drugs as an objective measurement of adherence. METHODS Data of patients starting monotherapy with a new-generation antipsychotic were collected 2, 4, and 12 weeks after the initiation of treatment. Next to the assessment of patients' attitudes toward medication by means of the Drug Attitude Inventory, the ratio of the observed vs expected plasma level was calculated. Antipsychotic-induced side effects were evaluated by means of the Udvalg for Kliniske Undersogelser Side Effect Rating Scale. RESULTS A total of 93 patients were eligible for statistical analysis. About one-half of the ratios of observed vs expected plasma levels ranged from 0.5 to 2 and were considered normal, whereas the other ratios were considered either too low (<0.5) or too high (>2). No consistent correlation between patients' attitude toward drug therapy and the individual ratios of observed vs expected plasma levels of medication was detected. This finding was not affected by side effects. CONCLUSIONS Our results highlight the importance of recognizing the complex nature of adherence to medication in schizophrenia patients. Importantly, we found no consistent correlation between subjective and objective measures of medication adherence. Therefore, monitoring adherence to medication remains a challenge in clinical practice.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Alex Hofer
- Biological Psychiatry Division (Drs Yalcin-Siedentopf, Wartelsteiner, Kaufmann, Biedermann, Edlinger, Rettenbacher, Widschwendter, Fleischhacker, and Hofer), and General and Social Psychiatry Division (Drs Kemmler and Zernig), Medical University Innsbruck, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Innsbruck, Austria
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Mandeville JB, Liu CH, Vanduffel W, Marota JJA, Jenkins BG. Data collection and analysis strategies for phMRI. Neuropharmacology 2014; 84:65-78. [PMID: 24613447 PMCID: PMC4058391 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2014.02.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2013] [Revised: 02/07/2014] [Accepted: 02/25/2014] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Although functional MRI traditionally has been applied mainly to study changes in task-induced brain function, evolving acquisition methodologies and improved knowledge of signal mechanisms have increased the utility of this method for studying responses to pharmacological stimuli, a technique often dubbed "phMRI". The proliferation of higher magnetic field strengths and the use of exogenous contrast agent have boosted detection power, a critical factor for successful phMRI due to the restricted ability to average multiple stimuli within subjects. Receptor-based models of neurovascular coupling, including explicit pharmacological models incorporating receptor densities and affinities and data-driven models that incorporate weak biophysical constraints, have demonstrated compelling descriptions of phMRI signal induced by dopaminergic stimuli. This report describes phMRI acquisition and analysis methodologies, with an emphasis on data-driven analyses. As an example application, statistically efficient data-driven regressors were used to describe the biphasic response to the mu-opioid agonist remifentanil, and antagonism using dopaminergic and GABAergic ligands revealed modulation of the mesolimbic pathway. Results illustrate the power of phMRI as well as our incomplete understanding of mechanisms underlying the signal. Future directions are discussed for phMRI acquisitions in human studies, for evolving analysis methodologies, and for interpretative studies using the new generation of simultaneous PET/MRI scanners. This article is part of the Special Issue Section entitled 'Neuroimaging in Neuropharmacology'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph B Mandeville
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA.
| | - Christina H Liu
- National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, Bethesda, MD 20817, USA
| | - Wim Vanduffel
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
| | - John J A Marota
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
| | - Bruce G Jenkins
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
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Acquisition of responding with a remifentanil-associated conditioned reinforcer in the rat. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2013; 229:235-43. [PMID: 23609770 PMCID: PMC3757104 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-013-3102-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2012] [Accepted: 03/29/2013] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE Drug-associated environmental stimuli may serve as conditioned reinforcers to enhance drug self-administration behaviors in humans and laboratory animals. However, it can be difficult to distinguish experimentally the conditioned reinforcing effects of a stimulus from other behavioral processes that can change rates of responding. OBJECTIVES To characterize the conditioned reinforcing effects of a stimulus paired with the μ-opioid agonist, remifentanil, using a new-response acquisition procedure in the rat. METHODS First, in Pavlovian conditioning (PAV) sessions, rats received response-independent IV injections of remifentanil and presentations of a light-noise compound stimulus. In paired PAV groups, injections and stimulus presentations always co-occurred. In random PAV control groups, injections and stimulus presentations occurred with no consistent relationship. Second, in instrumental acquisition (ACQ) sessions, all animals could respond in an active nose-poke that produced the stimulus alone or in an inactive nose-poke that had no scheduled consequences. RESULTS During ACQ, rats made significantly more active nose-pokes than inactive nose-pokes after paired PAV, but not after random PAV. Between groups, rats also made more active nose-pokes after paired PAV than after random PAV. After paired PAV, increased active responding was obtained under different schedules of reinforcement, persisted across multiple ACQ sessions, and depended on the number of PAV sessions conducted. CONCLUSIONS The remifentanil-paired stimulus served as a conditioned reinforcer for nose-poking: responding depended on both the contingency between the stimulus and remifentanil and the contingency between the nose-poke and the stimulus. Generally, new-response acquisition procedures may provide valid, flexible models for studying opioid-based conditioned reinforcement.
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James AS, Chen JY, Cepeda C, Mittal N, Jentsch JD, Levine MS, Evans CJ, Walwyn W. Opioid self-administration results in cell-type specific adaptations of striatal medium spiny neurons. Behav Brain Res 2013; 256:279-83. [PMID: 23968589 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2013.08.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2013] [Revised: 08/02/2013] [Accepted: 08/05/2013] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Medium-sized spiny neurons (MSNs), the predominant neuronal population of the striatum, are an integral component of the many cortical and limbic pathways associated with reward-related behaviors. A differential role of the D1 receptor-enriched (D1) MSNs of the striatonigral direct pathway, as compared with the D2 receptor-enriched (D2) MSNs of the striatopallidal indirect pathway, in mediating the addictive behaviors associated with cocaine is beginning to emerge. However, whether opioids, well-known analgesics with euphoric properties, similarly induce dissociable signaling adaptations in these neurons remains unclear. Transgenic mice expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP)-labeled D1 or D2 neurons were implanted with intravenous jugular catheters. Mice learned to self-administer 0.1mg/kg/infusion of the opioid remifentanil during 2h sessions over 13 contiguous days. Thereafter, the electrophysiological properties of D1- and D2-MSNs in the shell region of the nucleus accumbens (NAc) were assessed. We found that prior opioid exposure did not alter the basic membrane properties nor the kinetics or amplitude of miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSCs). However, when challenged with the mu opioid receptor (μOR) agonist DAMGO, the characteristic inhibitory profile of this receptor was altered. DAMGO inhibited the frequency of mEPSCs in D1-MSNs from control mice receiving saline and in D2-MSNs from mice exposed to remifentanil or saline, but this inhibitory profile was reduced in D1-MSNs from mice receiving remifentanil. Remifentanil exposure also altered the probability of glutamate release onto D1-, but not D2-MSNs. Together these results suggest a D1-pathway specific effect associated with the acquisition of opioid-seeking behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex S James
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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13
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Activation of PKCzeta and PKMzeta in the nucleus accumbens core is necessary for the retrieval, consolidation and reconsolidation of drug memory. PLoS One 2012; 7:e30502. [PMID: 22348011 PMCID: PMC3277594 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0030502] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2011] [Accepted: 12/16/2011] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
One of the greatest challenges in the treatment of substance dependence is to reverse the control that drug-associated stimuli have gained over the addict's behavior, as these drug-associated memories increase the risk of relapse even after long periods of abstinence. We report here that inhibition of the atypical protein kinase C isoform PKCzeta and its constitutively active isoform PKMzeta with the pseudosubstrate inhibitor ZIP administered locally into the nucleus accumbens core reversibly inhibited the retrieval of drug-associated memory and drug (remifentanil) seeking, whereas a scrambled ZIP peptide or staurosporine, an effective inhibitor of c/nPKC-, CaMKII-, and PKA kinases that does not affect PKCzeta/PKMzeta activity, was without effect on these memory processes. Acquisition or extinction of drug-associated memory remained unaffected by PKCzeta- and PKMzeta inhibition.
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Spreckelmeyer KN, Paulzen M, Raptis M, Baltus T, Schaffrath S, Van Waesberghe J, Zalewski MM, Rösch F, Vernaleken I, Schäfer WM, Gründer G. Opiate-induced dopamine release is modulated by severity of alcohol dependence: an [(18)F]fallypride positron emission tomography study. Biol Psychiatry 2011; 70:770-776. [PMID: 21802658 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2011.05.035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2011] [Revised: 05/25/2011] [Accepted: 05/31/2011] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Preclinical data implicate the reinforcing effects of alcohol to be mediated by interaction between the opioid and dopamine systems of the brain. Specifically, alcohol-induced release of β-endorphins stimulates μ-opioid receptors (MORs), which is believed to cause dopamine release in the brain reward system. Individual differences in opioid or dopamine neurotransmission have been suggested to be responsible for enhanced liability to abuse alcohol. In the present study, a single dose of the MOR agonist remifentanil was administered in detoxified alcohol-dependent patients and healthy control subjects to mimic the β-endorphin-releasing properties of ethanol and to assess the effects of direct MOR stimulation on dopamine release in the mesolimbic reward system. METHODS Availability of D(2/3) receptors was assessed before and after single-dose administration of the MOR agonist remifentanil in 11 detoxified alcohol-dependent patients and 11 healthy control subjects with positron emission tomography with the radiotracer [(18)F]fallypride. Severity of dependence as assessed with the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test was compared with remifentanil-induced percentage change in [(18)F]fallypride binding (Δ%BP(ND)). RESULTS The [(18)F]fallypride binding potentials (BP(ND)s) were significantly reduced in the ventral striatum, dorsal putamen, and amygdala after remifentanil application in both patients and control subjects. In the patient group, ventral striatum Δ%BP(ND) was correlated with the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test score. CONCLUSIONS The data provide evidence for a MOR-mediated interaction between the opioid and the dopamine system, supporting the assumption that one way by which alcohol unfolds its rewarding effects is via a MOR-(γ-aminobutyric acid)-dopamine pathway. No difference in dopamine release was found between patients and control subjects, but evidence for a patient-specific association between sensitivity to MOR stimulation and severity of alcohol dependence was found.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katja N Spreckelmeyer
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical Faculty, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen University, and Jülich-Aachen Research Alliance (JARA)-Translational Brain Medicine, Aachen, Germany.
| | - Michael Paulzen
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical Faculty, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen University, and Jülich-Aachen Research Alliance (JARA)-Translational Brain Medicine, Aachen, Germany
| | - Mardjan Raptis
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Thomas Baltus
- Department of Anaesthesiology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Sabrina Schaffrath
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical Faculty, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen University, and Jülich-Aachen Research Alliance (JARA)-Translational Brain Medicine, Aachen, Germany
| | - Julia Van Waesberghe
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical Faculty, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen University, and Jülich-Aachen Research Alliance (JARA)-Translational Brain Medicine, Aachen, Germany
| | - Magdalena M Zalewski
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical Faculty, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen University, and Jülich-Aachen Research Alliance (JARA)-Translational Brain Medicine, Aachen, Germany
| | - Frank Rösch
- Institute of Nuclear Chemistry, Johannes-Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Ingo Vernaleken
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical Faculty, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen University, and Jülich-Aachen Research Alliance (JARA)-Translational Brain Medicine, Aachen, Germany
| | - Wolfgang M Schäfer
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, St. Franziskus Hospital, Mönchengladbach, Germany
| | - Gerhard Gründer
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical Faculty, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen University, and Jülich-Aachen Research Alliance (JARA)-Translational Brain Medicine, Aachen, Germany
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15
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Measurement of the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of neuroactive compounds. Neurobiol Dis 2010; 37:38-47. [DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2009.09.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2009] [Revised: 09/29/2009] [Accepted: 09/30/2009] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
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16
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Kohut SJ, Roma PG, Davis CM, Zernig G, Saria A, Dominguez JM, Rice KC, Riley AL. The impact of early environmental rearing condition on the discriminative stimulus effects and Fos expression induced by cocaine in adult male and female rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2009; 203:383-97. [PMID: 18953528 PMCID: PMC2661818 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-008-1368-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2008] [Accepted: 10/02/2008] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE A number of environmental manipulations, including maternal separation (MS), have been shown to alter behavioral responses to drugs of abuse. OBJECTIVES This study assessed if MS affected the stimulus and Fos-inducing effects of cocaine. MATERIALS AND METHODS In experiment 1, male and female Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to brief maternal separations (BMS), long maternal separations (LMS), or animal facility rearing (AFR) and then trained as adults to discriminate cocaine (10 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) from saline. Following training, generalization tests to novel doses of cocaine and other dopaminergic compounds were performed. Assessments of variations in training dose pretreatment times were also made. In experiment 2, male and female rats exposed to MS conditions were administered cocaine or saline for 14 days, and Fos expression in the mesolimbic system was measured. RESULTS In males, BMS retarded the acquisition of the cocaine discrimination. Generalization to novel doses of cocaine did not differ among rearing conditions, but the training dose cue lasted longer in LMS. Distinct generalization and ED(50) profiles were found between male rearing conditions for all dopamine compounds. While BMS females had higher cocaine ED(50) estimates, no other differences were found in females. LMS males and females, as well as AFR females, had significant increases in Fos expression after cocaine in a region-specific manner. No differences were found with other rearing groups. CONCLUSION Early environmental variables altered the stimulus effects (in a sex-dependent manner) as well as the neuronal responsiveness to cocaine, which may be mediated by the dopamine system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen J Kohut
- Psychopharmacology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, American University, Washington, DC 20016, USA.
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17
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Nucleus accumbens core acetylcholine is preferentially activated during acquisition of drug- vs food-reinforced behavior. Neuropsychopharmacology 2008; 33:3213-20. [PMID: 18418362 DOI: 10.1038/npp.2008.48] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Acquisition of drug-reinforced behavior is accompanied by a systematic increase of release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh) rather than dopamine, the expected prime reward neurotransmitter candidate, in the nucleus accumbens core (AcbC), with activation of both muscarinic and nicotinic ACh receptors in the AcbC by ACh volume transmission being necessary for the drug conditioning. The present findings suggest that the AcbC ACh system is preferentially activated by drug reinforcers, because (1) acquisition of food-reinforced behavior was not paralleled by activation of ACh release in the AcbC whereas acquisition of morphine-reinforced behavior, like that of cocaine or remifentanil (tested previously), was, and because (2) local intra-AcbC administration of muscarinic or nicotinic ACh receptor antagonists (atropine or mecamylamine, respectively) did not block the acquisition of food-reinforced behavior whereas acquisition of drug-reinforced behavior had been blocked. Interestingly, the speed with which a drug of abuse distributed into the AcbC and was eliminated from the AcbC determined the size of the AcbC ACh signal, with the temporally more sharply delineated drug stimulus producing a more pronounced AcbC ACh signal. The present findings suggest that muscarinic and nicotinic ACh receptors in the AcbC are preferentially involved during reward conditioning for drugs of abuse vs sweetened condensed milk as a food reinforcer.
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18
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Zernig G, Ahmed SH, Cardinal RN, Morgan D, Acquas E, Foltin RW, Vezina P, Negus SS, Crespo JA, Stöckl P, Grubinger P, Madlung E, Haring C, Kurz M, Saria A. Explaining the escalation of drug use in substance dependence: models and appropriate animal laboratory tests. Pharmacology 2007; 80:65-119. [PMID: 17570954 DOI: 10.1159/000103923] [Citation(s) in RCA: 102] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Escalation of drug use, a hallmark of drug dependence, has traditionally been interpreted as reflecting the development of tolerance to the drug's effects. However, on the basis of animal behavioral data, several groups have recently proposed alternative explanations, i.e. that such an escalation of drug use might not be based on (1) tolerance, but rather be indicative of (2) sensitization to the drug's reinforcing effect, (3) reward allostasis, (4) an increase in the incentive salience of drug-associated stimuli, (5) an increase in the reinforcing strength of the drug reinforcer relative to alternative reinforcers, or (6) habit formation. From the pharmacological perspective, models 1-3 allow predictions about the change in the shape of drug dose-effect curves that are based on mathematically defined models governing receptor-ligand interaction and signal transduction. These predictions are tested in the present review, which also describes the other currently championed models for drug use escalation and other components of apparent 'reinforcement' (in its original meaning, like 'tolerance' or 'sensitization', a purely descriptive term). It evaluates the animal experimental approaches employed to support or prove the existence of each of the models and reinforcement components, and recapitulates the clinical evidence, which strongly suggests that escalation of drug use is predominantly based on an increase in the frequency of intoxication events rather than an increase in the dose taken at each intoxication event. Two apparent discrepancies in animal experiments are that (a) sensitization to overall reinforcement has been found more often for psychostimulants than for opioids, and that (b) tolerance to the reinforcing and other effects has been observed more often for opioids than for cocaine. These discrepancies are resolved by the finding that cocaine levels seem to be more tightly regulated at submaximum reinforcing levels than opioid levels are. Consequently, animals self-administering opioids are more likely to expose themselves to higher above-threshold doses than animals self-administering psychostimulants, rendering the development of tolerance to opioids more likely than tolerance to psychostimulants. The review concludes by making suggestions on how to improve the current behavioral experimental approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gerald Zernig
- Experimental Psychiatry Unit, Department of Psychiatry, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
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19
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Crespo JA, Panlilio LV, Schindler CW, Sturm K, Saria A, Zernig G. Peri-response pharmacokinetics of remifentanil during a self-administration session indicates that neither blood nor brain levels are titrated. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2007; 1074:497-504. [PMID: 17105948 DOI: 10.1196/annals.1369.050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
An individual's drug abuse pattern is determined by a multitude of factors. Among these, simple pharmacological determinants of within-binge drug consumption are sorely underinvestigated. We therefore determined if within-session operant responsing to the ultra-short-acting mu opioid agonist remifentanil (RMF) was determined by blood or brain RMF levels or changes thereof. Our peri-response analysis did not detect any "threshold" RMF level, either in blood or in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) core as a deep brain region that might determine a rat's "decision" to re-emit a response during a multiple-injection drug self-administration session. The peri-response analysis also failed to find any peak RMF level, either in blood or in the NAc core, which could serve as a "ceiling" level. Thus, our findings strongly suggest that titration of blood or brain RMF levels does not determine a rat's intra-session operant response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jose A Crespo
- Division of Neurochemistry, Department of Psychiatry, Medical University Innsbruck, Anichstrasse 35, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
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