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Salinsky LM, Merritt CR, Zamora JC, Giacomini JL, Anastasio NC, Cunningham KA. μ-opioid receptor agonists and psychedelics: pharmacological opportunities and challenges. Front Pharmacol 2023; 14:1239159. [PMID: 37886127 PMCID: PMC10598667 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1239159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 09/28/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Opioid misuse and opioid-involved overdose deaths are a massive public health problem involving the intertwined misuse of prescription opioids for pain management with the emergence of extremely potent fentanyl derivatives, sold as standalone products or adulterants in counterfeit prescription opioids or heroin. The incidence of repeated opioid overdose events indicates a problematic use pattern consistent with the development of the medical condition of opioid use disorder (OUD). Prescription and illicit opioids reduce pain perception by activating µ-opioid receptors (MOR) localized to the central nervous system (CNS). Dysregulation of meso-corticolimbic circuitry that subserves reward and adaptive behaviors is fundamentally involved in the progressive behavioral changes that promote and are consequent to OUD. Although opioid-induced analgesia and the rewarding effects of abused opioids are primarily mediated through MOR activation, serotonin (5-HT) is an important contributor to the pharmacology of opioid abused drugs (including heroin and prescription opioids) and OUD. There is a recent resurgence of interest into psychedelic compounds that act primarily through the 5-HT2A receptor (5-HT 2A R) as a new frontier in combatting such diseases (e.g., depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders). Emerging data suggest that the MOR and 5-HT2AR crosstalk at the cellular level and within key nodes of OUD circuitry, highlighting a major opportunity for novel pharmacological intervention for OUD. There is an important gap in the preclinical profiling of psychedelic 5-HT2AR agonists in OUD models. Further, as these molecules carry risks, additional analyses of the profiles of non-hallucinogenic 5-HT2AR agonists and/or 5-HT2AR positive allosteric modulators may provide a new pathway for 5-HT2AR therapeutics. In this review, we discuss the opportunities and challenges associated with utilizing 5-HT2AR agonists as therapeutics for OUD.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Noelle C. Anastasio
- Center for Addiction Sciences and Therapeutics and Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, John Sealy School of Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, United States
| | - Kathryn A. Cunningham
- Center for Addiction Sciences and Therapeutics and Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, John Sealy School of Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, United States
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Yuen J, Goyal A, Rusheen AE, Kouzani AZ, Berk M, Kim JH, Tye SJ, Blaha CD, Bennet KE, Lee KH, Oh Y, Shin H. Cocaine increases stimulation-evoked serotonin efflux in the nucleus accumbens. J Neurophysiol 2022; 127:714-724. [PMID: 34986049 PMCID: PMC8896999 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00420.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Although dopamine is the most implicated neurotransmitter in the mediation of the pathophysiology of addiction, animal studies show serotonin also plays a vital role. Cocaine is one of the most common illicit drugs globally, but the role of serotonin in its mechanism of action is insufficiently characterized. Consequently, we investigated the acute effects of the psychomotor stimulant cocaine on electrical stimulation-evoked serotonin (phasic) release in the nucleus accumbens core (NAcc) of urethane-anesthetized (1.5 g/kg ip) male Sprague-Dawley rats using N-shaped fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (N-FSCV). A single carbon fiber microelectrode was first implanted in the NAcc. Stimulation was applied to the medial forebrain bundle using 60 Hz, 2 ms, 0.2 mA, 2-s biphasic pulses before and after cocaine (2 mg/kg iv) was administered. Stimulation-evoked serotonin release significantly increased 5 min after cocaine injection compared with baseline (153 ± 21 nM vs. 257 ± 12 nM; P = 0.0042; n = 5) but was unaffected by saline injection (1 mL/kg iv; n = 5). N-FSCV's selective measurement of serotonin release in vivo was confirmed pharmacologically via administration of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor escitalopram (10 mg/kg ip) that effectively increased the signal in a separate group of rats (n = 5). Selectivity to serotonin was further confirmed in vitro in which dopamine was minimally detected by N-FSCV with a serotonin to dopamine response ratio of 1:0.04 (200 nM of serotonin:1 µM dopamine ratio; P = 0.0048; n = 5 electrodes). This study demonstrates a noteworthy influence of cocaine on serotonin dynamics, and confirms that N-FSCV can effectively and selectively measure phasic serotonin release in the NAcc.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Serotonin plays a vital role in drug addiction. Here, using N-shaped fast-scan cyclic voltammetry, we demonstrated the effect of cocaine on the phasic release of serotonin at the nucleus accumbens core. To the best of our knowledge, this has not previously been elucidated. Our results not only reinforce the role of serotonin in the mechanism of action of cocaine but also help to fill a gap in our knowledge and provide a baseline for future studies in cocaine addiction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason Yuen
- 1Department of Neurologic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota,4IMPACT—the Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation, School of Medicine, Barwon Health, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
| | - Abhinav Goyal
- 1Department of Neurologic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota,2Medical Scientist Training Program, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
| | - Aaron E. Rusheen
- 1Department of Neurologic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota,2Medical Scientist Training Program, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
| | - Abbas Z. Kouzani
- 3School of Engineering, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
| | - Michael Berk
- 4IMPACT—the Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation, School of Medicine, Barwon Health, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
| | - Jee Hyun Kim
- 4IMPACT—the Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation, School of Medicine, Barwon Health, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
| | - Susannah J. Tye
- 6Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
| | - Charles D. Blaha
- 1Department of Neurologic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
| | - Kevin E. Bennet
- 1Department of Neurologic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota,7Division of Engineering, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
| | - Kendall H. Lee
- 1Department of Neurologic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota,5Department of Biomedical Engineering, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
| | - Yoonbae Oh
- 1Department of Neurologic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota,5Department of Biomedical Engineering, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
| | - Hojin Shin
- 1Department of Neurologic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
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Li B, Jiang J, Zhou L, Tao X, Sun Q, Liu J, Liu Y, Pang G. Blockade of 5-Hydroxytryptamine 2A Receptor Attenuates Precipitation of Naloxone-Induced Withdrawal Symptoms in Opioid-Exposed Mice. Front Behav Neurosci 2022; 15:797217. [PMID: 35221941 PMCID: PMC8864093 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2021.797217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2021] [Accepted: 12/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Heroin dependency has become a global problem and has caused significant clinical and socioeconomic burdens along with devastating medical consequences. Chronic drug exposure alters the expression and functional activity of 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin) 2A receptors (5-HT2ARs) in the brain. Furthermore, pharmacological blockade of 5-HT2ARs reduces cue-induced cocaine craving behaviors. In this study, we explored the influence of 5-HT2ARs on heroin-withdrawal behaviors in mice. Black C57BL/6J mice were given gradually increasing (10–50 mg/kg over 4.5 days) doses of heroin to induce heroin dependency, after which naloxone was given to precipitate withdrawal symptoms. MDL100907, a selective and potent 5-HT2AR antagonist, attenuated naloxone-precipitated withdrawal symptoms in these mice. In addition, 5-HT2AR protein levels increased significantly in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), while phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (p-ERK) decreased in the mPFC after heroin exposure. In conclusion, these results suggest that 5-HT2ARs might be involved in the development of opioid dependency and that pharmacological blocking of 5-HT2ARs might be a new therapeutic strategy for heroin dependency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bing Li
- Center for Medical Research, School of Medicine, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan, China
| | - Junyu Jiang
- Center for Medical Research, School of Medicine, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan, China
| | - Li Zhou
- Center for Medical Research, School of Medicine, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan, China
| | - Xinrong Tao
- Center for Medical Research, School of Medicine, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan, China
| | - Qixian Sun
- Center for Medical Research, School of Medicine, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan, China
| | - Jiaxin Liu
- Center for Medical Research, School of Medicine, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan, China
| | - Yang Liu
- Center for Medical Research, School of Medicine, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan, China
| | - Gang Pang
- College of Basic Medical Sciences, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
- *Correspondence: Gang Pang,
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