Chronic food restriction increases D-1 dopamine receptor agonist-induced phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 and cyclic AMP response element-binding protein in caudate-putamen and nucleus accumbens

Dietary protein restriction diminishes sucrose reward and reduces sucrose-evoked mesolimbic dopamine signaling

Objective

A growing literature suggests manipulating dietary protein status decreases sweet consumption in rodents and in humans. Underlying neurocircuit mechanisms have not yet been determined, but previous work points towards hedonic rather than homeostatic pathways. Here we hypothesized that a history of protein restriction reduces sucrose seeking by altering mesolimbic dopamine signaling.

Methods

We tested this hypothesis using established behavioral tests of palatability and motivation, including the 'palatability contrast' and conditioned place preference (CPP) tests. We used modern optical sensors for measuring real-time nucleus accumbens (NAc) dopamine dynamics during sucrose consumption, via fiber photometry, in male C57/Bl6J mice maintained on low-protein high-carbohydrate (LPHC) or control (CON) diet for ∼5 weeks.

Results

A history of protein restriction decreased the consumption of a sucrose 'dessert' in sated mice by ∼50% compared to controls [T-test, p< 0.05]. The dopamine release in NAc during sucrose consumption was reduced, also by ∼50%, in LPHC-fed mice compared to CON [T-test, p< 0.01]. Furthermore, LPHC-feeding blocked the sucrose-conditioned place preference we observed in CON-fed mice [paired T-test, p< 0.05], indicating reduced motivation. This was accompanied by a 33% decrease in neuronal activation of the NAc core, as measured by c-Fos immunolabeling from brains collected directly after the CPP test.

Conclusions

Despite ongoing efforts to promote healthier dietary habits, adherence to recommendations aimed at reducing the intake of added sugars and processed sweets remains challenging. This study highlights chronic dietary protein restriction as a nutritional intervention that suppresses the motivation for sucrose intake, via blunted sucrose-evoke dopamine release in NAc.

Sex difference in the effect of environmental enrichment on food restriction-induced persistence of cocaine conditioned place preference and mechanistic underpinnings

Psychosocial and environmental factors, including loss of natural reward, contribute to the risk of drug abuse. Reward loss has been modeled in animals by removal from social or sexual contact, transfer from enriched to impoverished housing, or restriction of food. We previously showed that food restriction increases the unconditioned rewarding effects of abused drugs and the conditioned incentive effects of drug-paired environments. Mechanistic studies provided evidence of decreased basal dopamine (DA) transmission, adaptive upregulation of signaling downstream of D1 DA receptor stimulation, synaptic upscaling and incorporation of calcium-permeable AMPA receptors (CP-AMPARs) in medium spiny neurons (MSNs) of nucleus accumbens (NAc). These findings align with the still evolving 'reward deficiency' hypothesis of drug abuse. The present study tested whether a compound natural reward that is known to increase DA utilization, environmental enrichment, would prevent the persistent expression of cocaine conditioned place preference (CPP) otherwise observed in food restricted rats, along with the mechanistic underpinnings. Because nearly all prior investigations of both food restriction and environmental enrichment effects on cocaine CPP were conducted in male rodents, both sexes were included in the present study. Results indicate that environmental enrichment curtailed the persistence of CPP expression, decreased signaling downstream of the D1R, and decreased the amplitude and frequency of spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) in NAc MSNs of food restricted male, but not female, rats. The failure of environmental enrichment to significantly decrease food restriction-induced synaptic insertion of CP-AMPARs, and how this may accord with previous pharmacological findings that blockade of CP-AMPARs reverses behavioral effects of food restriction is discussed. In addition, it is speculated that estrous cycle-dependent fluctuations in DA release, receptor density and MSN excitability may obscure the effect of increased DA signaling during environmental enrichment, thereby interfering with development of the cellular and behavioral effects that enrichment produced in males.

Involvement of the Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products (RAGE) in high fat-high sugar diet-induced anhedonia in rats

Clinical and basic science investigation indicates a link between insulin resistance and anhedonia. Previous results of this laboratory point to impaired nucleus accumbens (NAc) insulin signaling as an underpinning of diet-induced anhedonia, based on use of a glucose lick microstructure assay. The present study evaluated whether advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and their receptor (RAGE), known to mediate obesogenic diet-induced inflammation and pathological metabolic conditions, are involved in this behavioral change. Six weeks maintenance of male and female rats on a high fat-high sugar liquid diet (chocolate Ensure) increased body weight gain, and markedly increased circulating insulin and leptin, but induced anhedonia (decreased first minute lick rate and lick burst size) in males only. In these subjects, anhedonia correlated with plasma concentrations of insulin. Although the diet did not alter plasma or NAc AGEs, or the expression of RAGE in the NAc, marginally significant correlations were seen between anhedonia and plasma content of several AGEs and NAc RAGE. Importantly, a small molecule RAGE antagonist, RAGE229, administered twice daily by oral gavage, prevented diet-induced anhedonia. This beneficial effect was associated with improved adipose function, reflected in the adiponectin/leptin ratio, and increased pCREB/total CREB in the NAc, and a shift in the pCREB correlation with pThr34-DARPP-32 from near-zero to strongly positive, such that both phospho-proteins correlated with the rescued hedonic response. This set of findings suggests that the receptor/signaling pathway and cell type underlying the RAGE229-mediated increase in pCREB may mediate anhedonia and its prevention. The possible role of adipose tissue as a locus of diet-induced RAGE signaling, and source of circulating factors that target NAc to modify hedonic reactivity are discussed.

Maternal neglect alters reward-anticipatory behavior, social status stability, and reward circuit activation in adult male rats

Introduction

Adverse early life experiences affect neuronal growth and maturation of reward circuits that modify behavior under reward predicting conditions. Previous studies demonstrate that rats undergoing denial of expected reward in the form of maternal contact (DER-animal model of maternal neglect) during early post-natal life developed anhedonia, aggressive play-fight behaviors and aberrant prefrontal cortex structure and neurochemistry. Although many studies revealed social deficiency following early-life stress most reports focus on individual animal tasks. Thus, attention needs to be given on the social effects during group tasks in animals afflicted by early life adversity.

Methods

To investigate the potential impact of the DER experience on the manifestation of behavioral responses induced by natural rewards, we evaluated: 1) naïve adult male sexual preference and performance, and 2) anticipatory behavior during a group 2-phase food anticipation learning task composed of a context-dependent and a cue-dependent learning period.

Results

DER rats efficiently spent time in the vicinity of and initiated sexual intercourse with receptive females suggesting an intact sexual reward motivation and consummation. Interestingly, during the context-dependent phase of food anticipation training DER rats displayed a modified exploratory activity and lower overall reward-context association. Moreover, during the cue-dependent phase DER rats displayed a mild deficit in context-reward association while increased cue-dependent locomotion. Additionally, DER rats displayed unstable food access priority following food presentation. These abnormal behaviours were accompanied by overactivation of the ventral prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens, as assessed by pCREB levels.

Conclusions/discussion

Collectively, these data show that the neonatal DER experience resulted in adulthood in altered activation of the reward circuitry, interfered with the normal formation of context-reward associations, and disrupted normal reward access hierarchy formation. These findings provide additional evidence to the deleterious effects of early life adversity on reward system, social hierarchy formation, and brain function.

Effects of DPTQ, a novel positive allosteric modulator of the dopamine D1 receptor, on spontaneous eye blink rate and spatial working memory in the nonhuman primate

RATIONALE

Dopamine (DA) signaling through the D1 receptor has been shown to be integral to multiple aspects of cognition, including the core process of working memory. The discovery of positive allosteric modulators (PAMs) of the D1 receptor has enabled treatment modalities that may have alternative benefits to orthosteric D1 agonists arising from a synergism of action with functional D1 receptor signaling.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate this potential, we have studied the effects of the novel D1 PAM DPTQ on a spatial delayed response working memory task in the rhesus monkey. Initial studies indicated that DPTQ binds to primate D1R with high affinity and selectivity and elevates spontaneous eye blink rate in rhesus monkeys in a dose-dependent manner consistent with plasma ligand exposures and central D1activation.

RESULTS

Based on those results, DPTQ was tested at 2.5 mg/kg IM in the working memory task. No acute effect was observed 1 h after dosing, but performance was impaired 48 h later. Remarkably, this deficit was immediately followed by a significant enhancement in cognition over the next 3 days. In a second experiment in which DPTQ was administered on days 1 and 5, the early impairment was smaller and did not reach statistical significance, but statistically significant enhancement of performance was observed over the following week. Lower doses of 0.1 and 1.0 mg/kg were also capable of producing this protracted enhancement without inducing any transient impairment.

CONCLUSIONS

DPTQ exemplifies a class of D1PAMs that may be capable of providing long-term improvements in working memory.

Homeostatic regulation of reward via synaptic insertion of calcium-permeable AMPA receptors in nucleus accumbens

The incentive effects of food and related cues are determined by stimulus properties and the internal state of the organism. Enhanced hedonic reactivity and incentive motivation in energy deficient subjects have been demonstrated in animal models and humans. Defining the neurobiological underpinnings of these state-based modulatory effects could illuminate fundamental mechanisms of adaptive behavior, as well as provide insight into maladaptive consequences of weight loss dieting and the relationship between disturbed eating behavior and substance abuse. This article summarizes research of our laboratory aimed at identifying neuroadaptations induced by chronic food restriction (FR) that increase the reward magnitude of drugs and associated cues. The main findings are that FR decreases basal dopamine (DA) transmission, upregulates signaling downstream of the D1 DA receptor (D1R), and triggers synaptic incorporation of calcium-permeable AMPA receptors (CP-AMPARs) in the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Selective antagonism of CP-AMPARs decreases excitatory postsynaptic currents in NAc medium spiny neurons of FR rats and blocks the enhanced rewarding effects of d-amphetamine and a D1R, but not a D2R, agonist. These results suggest that FR drives CP-AMPARs into the synaptic membrane of D1R-expressing MSNs, possibly as a homeostatic response to reward loss. FR subjects also display diminished aversion for contexts associated with LiCl treatment and centrally infused cocaine. An encompassing, though speculative, hypothesis is that NAc synaptic incorporation of CP-AMPARs in response to food scarcity and other forms of sustained reward loss adaptively increases incentive effects of reward stimuli and, at the same time, diminishes responsiveness to aversive stimuli that have potential to interfere with goal pursuit.

In vivo reduction of striatal D1R by RNA interference alters expression of D1R signaling-related proteins and enhances methamphetamine addiction in male rats

This study sought to determine if reducing dopamine D1 receptor (D1R) expression in the dorsal striatum (DS) via RNA-interference alters methamphetamine self-administration. A lentiviral construct containing a short hairpin RNA (shRNA) was used to knock down D1R expression (D1RshRNA). D1RshRNA in male rats increased responding for methamphetamine (i.v.) under a fixed-ratio schedule in an extended access paradigm, compared to D1R-intact rats. D1RshRNA also produced a vertical shift in a dose-response paradigm and enhanced responding for methamphetamine in a progressive-ratio schedule, generating a drug-vulnerable phenotype. D1RshRNA did not alter responding for sucrose (oral) under a fixed-ratio schedule compared to D1R-intact rats. Western blotting confirmed reduced D1R expression in methamphetamine and sucrose D1RshRNA rats. D1RshRNA reduced the expression of PSD-95 and MAPK-1 and increased the expression of dopamine transporter (DAT) in the DS from methamphetamine, but not sucrose rats. Sucrose density gradient fractionation was performed in behavior-naïve controls, D1RshRNA- and D1R-intact rats to determine the subcellular localization of D1Rs, DAT and D1R signaling proteins. D1Rs, DAT, MAPK-1 and PSD-95 predominantly localized to heavy fractions, and the membrane/lipid raft protein caveolin-1 (Cav-1) and flotillin-1 were distributed equally between buoyant and heavy fractions in controls. Methamphetamine increased localization of PSD-95, Cav-1, and flotillin-1 in D1RshRNA and D1R-intact rats to buoyant fractions. Our studies indicate that reduced D1R expression in the DS increases vulnerability to methamphetamine addiction-like behavior, and this is accompanied by striatal alterations in the expression of DAT and D1R signaling proteins and is independent of the subcellular localization of these proteins.

Food restriction induces synaptic incorporation of calcium-permeable AMPA receptors in nucleus accumbens

Chronic food restriction potentiates behavioral and cellular responses to drugs of abuse and D-1 dopamine receptor agonists administered systemically or locally in the nucleus accumbens (NAc). However, the alterations in NAc synaptic transmission underlying these effects are incompletely understood. AMPA receptor trafficking is a major mechanism for regulating synaptic strength, and previous studies have shown that both sucrose and d-amphetamine rapidly alter the abundance of AMPA receptor subunits in the NAc postsynaptic density (PSD) in a manner that differs between food-restricted and ad libitum fed rats. In this study we examined whether food restriction, in the absence of reward stimulus challenge, alters AMPAR subunit abundance in the NAc PSD. Food restriction was found to increase surface expression and, specifically, PSD abundance, of GluA1 but not GluA2, suggesting synaptic incorporation of GluA2-lacking Ca2+-permeable AMPARs (CP-AMPARs). Naspm, an antagonist of CP-AMPARs, decreased the amplitude of evoked EPSCs in NAc shell, and blocked the enhanced locomotor response to local microinjection of the D-1 receptor agonist, SKF-82958, in food-restricted, but not ad libitum fed, subjects. Although microinjection of the D-2 receptor agonist, quinpirole, also induced greater locomotor activation in food-restricted than ad libitum fed rats, this effect was not decreased by Naspm. Taken together, the present findings are consistent with the synaptic incorporation of CP-AMPARs in D-1 receptor-expressing medium spiny neurons in NAc as a mechanistic underpinning of the enhanced responsiveness of food-restricted rats to natural rewards and drugs of abuse.

Counteractive effects of antenatal glucocorticoid treatment on D1 receptor modulation of spatial working memory

RATIONALE

Antenatal exposure to the glucocorticoid dexamethasone dramatically increases the number of mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons in rat offspring. However, the consequences of this expansion in midbrain dopamine (DA) neurons for behavioural processes in adulthood are poorly understood, including working memory that depends on DA transmission in the prefrontal cortex (PFC).

OBJECTIVES

We therefore investigated the influence of antenatal glucocorticoid treatment (AGT) on the modulation of spatial working memory by a D₁ receptor agonist and on D1 receptor binding and DA content in the PFC and striatum.

METHODS

Pregnant rats received AGT on gestational days 16-19 by adding dexamethasone to their drinking water. Male offspring reared to adulthood were trained on a delayed alternation spatial working memory task and administered the partial D₁ agonist SKF38393 (0.3-3 mg/kg) by systemic injection. In separate groups of control and AGT animals, D₁ receptor binding and DA content were measured post-mortem in the PFC and striatum.

RESULTS

SKF38393 impaired spatial working memory performance in control rats but had no effect in AGT rats. D₁ binding was significantly reduced in the anterior cingulate cortex, prelimbic cortex, dorsal striatum and ventral pallidum of AGT rats compared with control animals. However, AGT had no significant effect on brain monoamine levels.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings demonstrate that D₁ receptors in corticostriatal circuitry down-regulate in response to AGT. This compensatory effect in D₁ receptors may result from increased DA-ergic tone in AGT rats and underlie the resilience of these animals to the disruptive effects of D₁ receptor activation on spatial working memory.

Operant ethanol self-administration increases extracellular-signal regulated protein kinase (ERK) phosphorylation in reward-related brain regions: selective regulation of positive reinforcement in the prefrontal cortex of C57BL/6J mice

RATIONALE

Extracellular-signal regulated protein kinase (ERK1/2) is activated by ethanol in reward-related brain regions. Accordingly, systemic inhibition of ERK1/2 potentiates ethanol reinforcement. However, the brain region(s) that mediate this effect are unknown.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to pharmacologically inhibit ERK1/2 in the medial prefrontal cortex (PFC), nucleus accumbens (NAC), and amygdala (AMY) prior to ethanol or sucrose self-administration, and evaluate effects of operant ethanol self-administration on ERK1/2 phosphorylation (pERK1/2).

METHODS

Male C57BL/6J mice were trained to lever press on a fixed-ratio-4 schedule of 9% ethanol + 2% sucrose (ethanol) or 2% sucrose (sucrose) reinforcement. Mice were sacrificed immediately after the 30th self-administration session and pERK1/2 immunoreactivity was quantified in targeted brain regions. Additional groups of mice were injected with SL 327 (0-1.7 μg/side) in PFC, NAC, or AMY prior to self-administration.

RESULTS

pERK1/2 immunoreactivity was significantly increased by operant ethanol (g/kg = 1.21 g/kg; BAC = 54.9 mg/dl) in the PFC, NAC (core and shell), and AMY (central nucleus) as compared to sucrose. Microinjection of SL 327 (1.7 μg) into the PFC selectively increased ethanol self-administration. Intra-NAC injection of SL 327 had no effect on ethanol- but suppressed sucrose-reinforced responding. Intra-AMY microinjection of SL 327 had no effect on either ethanol- or sucrose-reinforced responding. Locomotor activity was unaffected under all conditions.

CONCLUSIONS

Operant ethanol self-administration increases pERK1/2 activation in the PFC, NAC, and AMY. However, ERK1/2 activity only in the PFC mechanistically regulates ethanol self-administration. These data suggest that ethanol-induced activation of ERK1/2 in the PFC is a critical pharmacological effect that mediates the reinforcing properties of the drug.

Episodic sucrose intake during food restriction increases synaptic abundance of AMPA receptors in nucleus accumbens and augments intake of sucrose following restoration of ad libitum feeding

Weight-loss dieting often leads to loss of control, rebound weight gain, and is a risk factor for binge pathology. Based on findings that food restriction (FR) upregulates sucrose-induced trafficking of glutamatergic AMPA receptors to the nucleus accumbens (NAc) postsynaptic density (PSD), this study was an initial test of the hypothesis that episodic "breakthrough" intake of forbidden food during dieting interacts with upregulated mechanisms of synaptic plasticity to increase reward-driven feeding. Ad libitum (AL) fed and FR subjects consumed a limited amount of 10% sucrose, or had access to water, every other day for 10 occasions. Beginning three weeks after return of FR rats to AL feeding, when 24-h chow intake and rate of body weight gain had normalized, subjects with a history of sucrose intake during FR consumed more sucrose during a four week intermittent access protocol than the two AL groups and the group that had access to water during FR. In an experiment that substituted noncontingent administration of d-amphetamine for sucrose, FR subjects displayed an enhanced locomotor response during active FR but a blunted response, relative to AL subjects, during recovery from FR. This result suggests that the enduring increase in sucrose consumption is unlikely to be explained by residual enhancing effects of FR on dopamine signaling. In a biochemical experiment which paralleled the sucrose behavioral experiment, rats with a history of sucrose intake during FR displayed increased abundance of pSer845-GluA1, GluA2, and GluA3 in the NAc PSD relative to rats with a history of FR without sucrose access and rats that had been AL throughout, whether they had a history of episodic sucrose intake or not. A history of FR, with or without a history of sucrose intake, was associated with increased abundance of GluA1. A terminal 15-min bout of sucrose intake produced a further increase in pSer845-GluA1 and GluA2 in subjects with a history of sucrose intake during FR. Generally, neither a history of sucrose intake nor a terminal bout of sucrose intake affected AMPA receptor abundance in the NAc PSD of AL subjects. Together, these results are consistent with the hypothesis, but the functional contribution of increased synaptic incorporation of AMPA receptors remains to be established.

Involvement of nucleus accumbens AMPA receptor trafficking in augmentation of D- amphetamine reward in food-restricted rats

RATIONALE

Chronic food restriction (FR) increases behavioral responsiveness to drugs of abuse and associated environments. Pre- and postsynaptic neuroadaptations have been identified in the mesoaccumbens dopamine pathway of FR subjects but the mechanistic basis of increased drug reward magnitude remains unclear.

OBJECTIVES

Effects of FR on basal and D-amphetamine-induced trafficking of AMPA receptor subunits to the nucleus accumbens (NAc) postsynaptic density (PSD) were examined, and AMPA receptor involvement in augmentation of D-amphetamine reward was tested.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

FR and ad libitum fed (AL) rats were injected with D-amphetamine (2.5 mg/kg, i.p.) or vehicle. Brains were harvested and subcellular fractionation and Western analyses were used to assess AMPA receptor abundance in NAc homogenate and PSD fractions. A follow-up experiment used a curve-shift protocol of intracranial self-stimulation to assess the effect of 1-naphthylacetyl spermine (1-NASPM), a blocker of Ca(2+)-permeable AMPA receptors, on rewarding effects of D-amphetamine microinjected in NAc shell.

RESULTS

FR increased GluA1 in the PSD, and D-amphetamine increased p-Ser845-GluA1, GluA1, GluA2, but not GluA3, with a greater effect in FR than AL rats. D-amphetamine lowered reward thresholds, with greater effects in FR than AL rats, and 1-NASPM selectively reversed the enhancing effect of FR.

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest that FR leads to increased synaptic incorporation of GluA1 homomers to potentiate rewarding effects of appetitive stimuli and, as a maladaptive byproduct, D-amphetamine. The D-amphetamine-induced increase in synaptic p-Ser845-GluA1, GluA1, and GluA2 may contribute to the rewarding effect of D-amphetamine, but may also be a mechanism of synaptic strengthening and behavior modification.

Effects of time of feeding on psychostimulant reward, conditioned place preference, metabolic hormone levels, and nucleus accumbens biochemical measures in food-restricted rats

RATIONALE

Chronic food restriction (FR) increases rewarding effects of abused drugs and persistence of a cocaine-conditioned place preference (CPP). When there is a single daily meal, circadian rhythms are correspondingly entrained, and pre- and postprandial periods are accompanied by different circulating levels of metabolic hormones that modulate brain dopamine function.

OBJECTIVES

The present study assessed whether rewarding effects of d-amphetamine, cocaine, and persistence of cocaine-CPP differ between FR subjects tested in the pre- and postprandial periods.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Rats were stereotaxically implanted with intracerebral microinjection cannulae and an electrode in lateral hypothalamus. Rewarding effects of d-amphetamine and cocaine were assessed using electrical self-stimulation in rats tested 1-4 or 18-21 h after the daily meal. Nonimplanted subjects acquired a cocaine-CPP while ad libitum fed and then were switched to FR and tested for CPP at these same times.

RESULTS

Rewarding effects of intranucleus accumbens (NAc) d-amphetamine, intraventricular cocaine, and persistence of cocaine-CPP did not differ between rats tested 18-21 h food-deprived, when ghrelin and insulin levels were at peak and nadir, respectively, and those tested 1-4 h after feeding. Rats that expressed a persistent CPP had elevated levels of p-ERK1, GluA1, and p-Ser845-GluA1 in NAc core, and the latter correlated with CPP expression.

CONCLUSIONS

Psychostimulant reward and persistence of CPP in FR rats are unaffected by time of testing relative to the daily meal. Further, NAc biochemical responses previously associated with enhanced drug responsiveness in FR rats are associated with persistent CPP expression.

Central functional response to the novel peptide cannabinoid, hemopressin

Hemopressin is the first peptide ligand to be described for the CB₁ cannabinoid receptor. Hemopressin acts as an inverse agonist in vivo and can cross the blood-brain barrier to both inhibit appetite and induce antinociception. Despite being highly effective, synthetic CB₁ inverse agonists are limited therapeutically due to unwanted, over dampening of central reward pathways. However, hemopressin appears to have its effect on appetite by affecting satiety rather than reward, suggesting an alternative mode of action which might avoid adverse side effects. Here, to resolve the neuronal circuitry mediating hemopressin's actions, we have combined blood-oxygen-level-dependent, pharmacological-challenge magnetic resonance imaging with c-Fos functional activity mapping to compare brain regions responsive to systemic administration of hemopressin and the synthetic CB₁ inverse agonist, AM251. Using these complementary methods, we demonstrate that hemopressin activates distinct neuronal substrates within the brain, focused mainly on the feeding-related circuits of the mediobasal hypothalamus and in nociceptive regions of the periaqueductal grey (PAG) and dorsal raphe (DR). In contrast to AM251, there is a distinct lack of activation of the brain reward centres, such as the ventral tegmental area, nucleus accumbens and orbitofrontal cortex, which normally form a functional activity signature for the central action of synthetic CB₁ receptor inverse agonists. Thus, hemopressin modulates the function of key feeding-related brain nuclei of the mediobasal hypothalamus, and descending pain pathways of the PAG and DR, and not higher limbic structures. Thus, hemopressin may offer behaviourally selective effects on nociception and appetite, without engaging reward pathways.

Dopamine is involved in food-anticipatory activity in mice

When food is available during a restricted and predictable time of the day, mammals exhibit food-anticipatory activity (FAA), an increase in locomotor activity preceding the presentation of food. Although many studies have attempted to locate the food-entrainable circadian oscillator in the central nervous system, the pathways that mediate food entrainment are a matter of controversy. The present study was designed to determine the role of dopaminergic and histaminergic systems on FAA. Mice were given access to food for 2 h (ZT12-ZT14), and FAA was defined as the locomotor activity that occurred 2 h before the availability of food. Dopamine D(1) receptor (R), D(2)R, and histamine H(1)R-specific antagonists were used to clarify the role of dopamine and histamine receptors in FAA induced by food restriction (FR). FAA was monitored by infrared locomotor activity sensors. Mice were sacrificed at ZT12 on the 14th day of FR, and monoamine concentrations were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to electrochemical detection (HPLC-ECD). The results showed that pretreatment with the D(1)R antagonist SCH23390 at 1, 3, or 10 µg/kg significantly reduced FAA by 19% (p < 0.05), 26% (p < 0.05), or 19% (p < 0.01), respectively, and the D(2)R antagonist raclopride at 22, 67, or 200 µg/kg significantly reduced FAA by 16% (p < 0.05), 36% (p < 0.01), or 41% (p < 0.01), respectively, as compared with vehicle control. Moreover, coadministration of SCH23390 (10 µg/kg) and raclopride (200 µg/kg) synergistically inhibited FAA by 57% (p < 0.01) as compared with vehicle control. Consistently, the levels of dopamine and its metabolites in the striatum and midbrain were significantly increased during FAA, even with the pretreatment of D(1)R and D(2)R antagonists. However, pretreatment with pyrilamine at 2.5, 5, or 10 mg/kg did not significantly reduce FAA, although it reduced the locomotor activity during the dark period in ad libitum mice. These results strongly indicate that the dopaminergic system plays an essential role in the FAA in mice.

Effects of protein kinase A inhibitor and activator on rewarding effects of SKF-82958 microinjected into nucleus accumbens shell of ad libitum fed and food-restricted rats

RATIONALE

Previous studies indicate that the rewarding effect of D-1 dopamine receptor stimulation in nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell is greater in food-restricted (FR) than in ad libitum fed (AL) rats. The D-1 receptor is positively coupled to adenylyl cyclase and activates protein kinase A (PKA).

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to determine whether PKA is involved in the rewarding effect of D-1 receptor stimulation and, if so, whether it is involved in the enhanced response of FR rats.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Rats were stereotaxically implanted with microinjection cannulae in NAc shell and a stimulating electrode in lateral hypothalamus. The rewarding effects of SKF-82958 (1.5 or 3.0 μg, bilaterally) in the presence and absence of PKA inhibitor, Rp-cAMPS (8.9 μg), and PKA activator, Sp-cAMPS (8.9 μg), were assessed using the curve-shift method of intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS). Basal NAc levels of DARPP-32 phosphorylated on Thr34 and Thr75 were measured.

RESULTS

Rp-cAMPS increased the rewarding effect of SKF-82958 in AL but not FR rats, doubling the ICSS threshold-lowering effect of the 3.0-μg dose. Sp-cAMPS decreased the rewarding effect of SKF-82958 in FR but not AL rats. Levels of phospho-DARPP-32 (Thr75), which inhibits PKA, were higher in FR than AL rats.

CONCLUSIONS

Results indicate that inhibition of PKA enhances the unconditioned rewarding effect of D-1 receptor stimulation and that decreased PKA may be involved in the effect of FR on drug reward. Evidence for involvement of D-2 receptor-expressing neurons in the enhancing effect of PKA inhibition is discussed.

Food restriction increases acquisition, persistence and drug prime-induced expression of a cocaine-conditioned place preference in rats

Cocaine conditioned place preference (CPP) is more persistent in food-restricted than ad libitum fed rats. This study assessed whether food restriction acts during conditioning and/or expression to increase persistence. In Experiment 1, rats were food-restricted during conditioning with a 7.0 mg/kg (i.p.) dose of cocaine. After the first CPP test, half of the rats were switched to ad libitum feeding for three weeks, half remained on food restriction, and this was followed by CPP testing. Rats tested under the ad libitum feeding condition displayed extinction by the fifth test. Their CPP did not reinstate in response to overnight food deprivation or a cocaine prime. Rats maintained on food restriction displayed a persistent CPP. In Experiment 2, rats were ad libitum fed during conditioning with the 7.0 mg/kg dose. In the first test only a trend toward CPP was displayed. Rats maintained under the ad libitum feeding condition did not display a CPP during subsequent testing and did not respond to a cocaine prime. Rats tested under food-restriction also did not display a CPP, but expressed a CPP following a cocaine prime. In Experiment 3, rats were ad libitum fed during conditioning with a 12.0 mg/kg dose. After the first test, half of the rats were switched to food restriction for three weeks. Rats that were maintained under the ad libitum condition displayed extinction by the fourth test. Their CPP was not reinstated by a cocaine prime. Rats tested under food-restriction displayed a persistent CPP. These results indicate that food restriction lowers the threshold dose for cocaine CPP and interacts with a previously acquired CPP to increase its persistence. In so far as CPP models Pavlovian conditioning that contributes to addiction, these results suggest the importance of diet and the physiology of energy balance as modulatory factors.

A food restriction protocol that increases drug reward decreases tropomyosin receptor kinase B in the ventral tegmental area, with no effect on brain-derived neurotrophic factor or tropomyosin receptor kinase B protein levels in dopaminergic forebrain regions

Food restriction (FR) decreases brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression in hypothalamic and hindbrain regions that regulate feeding and metabolic efficiency, while increasing expression in hippocampal and neocortical regions. Drugs of abuse alter BDNF expression within the mesocorticolimbic dopamine (DA) pathway, and modifications of BDNF expression within this pathway alter drug-directed behavior. Although FR produces a variety of striatal neuroadaptations and potentiates the rewarding effects of abused drugs, the effects of FR on BDNF expression and function within the DA pathway are unknown. The primary purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of FR on protein levels of BDNF and its tropomyosin receptor kinase B (TrkB) receptor in component structures of the mesocorticolimbic pathway. Three to four weeks of FR, with stabilization of rats at 80% of initial body weight, did not alter BDNF or TrkB levels in nucleus accumbens, caudate-putamen, or medial prefrontal cortex. However, FR decreased TrkB levels in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), without change in levels of BDNF protein or mRNA. The finding that FR also decreased TrkB levels in substantia nigra, with elevation of BDNF protein, suggests that decreased TrkB in VTA could be a residual effect of increased BDNF during an earlier phase of FR. Voltage-clamp recordings in VTA DA neurons indicated decreased glutamate receptor transmission. These data might predict lower average firing rates in FR relative to ad libitum fed subjects, which would be consistent with previous evidence of decreased striatal DA transmission and upregulation of postsynaptic DA receptor signaling. However, FR subjects also displayed elevated VTA levels of phospho-ERK1/2, which is an established mediator of synaptic plasticity. Because VTA neurons are heterogeneous with regard to neurochemistry, function, and target projections, the relationship(s) between the three changes observed in VTA, and their involvement in the augmented striatal and behavioral responsiveness of FR subjects to drugs of abuse, remains speculative.

Enhanced cocaine-conditioned place preference and associated brain regional levels of BDNF, p-ERK1/2 and p-Ser845-GluA1 in food-restricted rats

Previously, a learning-free measure was used to demonstrate that chronic food restriction (FR) increases the reward magnitude of a wide range of abused drugs. Moreover, a variety of striatal neuroadaptations were detected in FR subjects, some of which are known to be involved in synaptic plasticity but have been ruled out as modulators of acute drug reward magnitude. Little is known about effects of FR on drug-conditioned place preference (CPP) and brain regional mechanisms that may enhance CPP in FR subjects. The purpose of the present study was to compare the expression and persistence of a conditioned place preference (CPP) induced by a relatively low dose of cocaine (7.0mg/kg, i.p.) in ad libitum fed (AL) and FR rats and take several brain regional biochemical measures following the first CPP conditioning session to probe candidate mechanisms that may underlie the more robust CPP observed in FR subjects. Behaviorally, AL subjects displayed a CPP upon initial testing which extinguished rapidly over the course of subsequent test sessions while CPP in FR subjects persisted. Despite previous reports of elevated BDNF protein in forebrain regions of FR rats, the FR protocol used in the present study did not alter BDNF levels in dorsal hippocampus, nucleus accumbens or medial prefrontal cortex. On the other hand, FR rats, whether injected with cocaine or vehicle, displayed elevated p-ERK1/2 and p-Ser845-GluA1 in dorsal hippocampus. FR rats also displayed elevated p-ERK1/2 in medial prefrontal cortex and elevated p-ERK1 in nucleus accumbens, with further increases produced by cocaine. The one effect observed exclusively in cocaine-treated FR rats was increased p-Ser845-GluA1 in nucleus accumbens. These findings suggest a number of avenues for continuing investigation with potential translational significance.

Food scarcity, neuroadaptations, and the pathogenic potential of dieting in an unnatural ecology: binge eating and drug abuse

In the laboratory, food restriction has been shown to induce neuroadaptations in brain reward circuitry which are likely to be among those that facilitate survival during periods of food scarcity in the wild. However, the upregulation of mechanisms that promote foraging and reward-related learning may pose a hazard when food restriction is self-imposed in an ecology of abundant appetitive rewards. For example, episodes of loss of control during weight-loss dieting, use of drugs with addictive potential as diet aids, and alternating fasting with alcohol consumption in order to avoid weight gain, may induce synaptic plasticity that increases the risk of enduring maladaptive reward-directed behavior. In the present mini-review, representative basic research findings are outlined which indicate that food restriction alters the function of mesoaccumbens dopamine neurons, potentiates cellular and behavioral responses to D-1 and D-2 dopamine receptor stimulation, and increases stimulus-induced synaptic insertion of AMPA receptors in nucleus accumbens. Possible mechanistic underpinnings of increased drug reward magnitude, drug-seeking, and binge intake of sucrose in food-restricted animal subjects are discussed and possible implications for human weight-loss dieting are considered.

AMPA receptor subunit GluR1 downstream of D-1 dopamine receptor stimulation in nucleus accumbens shell mediates increased drug reward magnitude in food-restricted rats

Previous findings suggest that neuroadaptations downstream of D-1 dopamine (DA) receptor stimulation in nucleus accumbens (NAc) are involved in the enhancement of drug reward by chronic food restriction (FR). Given the high co-expression of D-1 and GluR1 AMPA receptors in NAc, and the regulation of GluR1 channel conductance and trafficking by D-1-linked intracellular signaling cascades, the present study examined effects of the D-1 agonist, SKF-82958, on NAc GluR1 phosphorylation, intracranial electrical self-stimulation reward (ICSS), and reversibility of reward effects by a polyamine GluR1 antagonist, 1-NA-spermine, in ad libitum fed (AL) and FR rats. Systemically administered SKF-82958, or brief ingestion of a 10% sucrose solution, increased NAc GluR1 phosphorylation on Ser845, but not Ser831, with a greater effect in FR than AL rats. Microinjection of SKF-82958 in NAc shell produced a reward-potentiating effect that was greater in FR than AL rats, and was reversed by co-injection of 1-NA-spermine. GluR1 abundance in whole cell and synaptosomal fractions of NAc did not differ between feeding groups, and microinjection of AMPA, while affecting ICSS, did not exert greater effects in FR than AL rats. These results suggest a role of NAc GluR1 in the reward-potentiating effect of D-1 DA receptor stimulation and its enhancement by FR. Moreover, GluR1 involvement appears to occur downstream of D-1 DA receptor stimulation rather than reflecting a basal increase in GluR1 expression or function. Based on evidence that phosphorylation of GluR1 on Ser845 primes synaptic strengthening, the present results may reflect a mechanism via which FR normally facilitates reward-related learning to re-align instrumental behavior with environmental contingencies under the pressure of negative energy balance.

Cognitive impulsivity in animal models: role of response time and reinforcing rate in delay intolerance with two-choice operant tasks

Impulsivity, a key symptom of ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder), is also common in obsessive-compulsive and addictive disorders. There is rising interest in animal models of inhibitory-control impairment. Adolescent rats were tested daily in the intolerance-to-delay (ID) task (session 25 min, timeout 20 s), involving choice between either immediate small amount of food (SS), or larger amount of food after a delay (LL). The mixed 5-HT(1A/7) agonist (8-OH-DPAT, 0 or 0.060 mg/kg i.p.) was administered acutely just before the last three sessions at highest delays. In addition to the classical choice parameter (percent LL preference), the spontaneous waiting (termed response time, RT) occurring between end of a timeout (TO) and next nose-poke was calculated. The pace between consecutive reinforcer deliveries is given by the mean inter-trial interval (mITI, i.e. TO + RT). Hence, the impact of any given delay may be proportional to this pace and be expressed as delay-equivalent odds, i.e. the extent by which delays are multiples of the mITI. Data revealed that RT/mITI increased sharply from around 15 s/35 s to around 30 s/50 s when imposed delay changed from 30 s to 45 s (i.e. odds from 0.91 to 1.06). This suggests that rats adopted a strategy allowing them to keep in pace with perceived reinforcing rate. The increasing delay constraint directly influenced the length of rats' spontaneous waiting (RT) before next decision. For higher delays, with odds >1, rats shifted to a clear-cut SS preference, which is devoid of any exogenous temporal constraint. A challenge with 8-OH-DPAT (0 or 0.060 mg/kg i.p.) decreased impulsive choice but also increased RT. Thus, tapping onto 5-HT(1A/7) receptors slightly enhanced RT/mITI values, possibly reflecting ability of rats to cope with slower reinforcing rates and/or with delay-cancelled reward paces. In summary, delay-induced states of aversion may arise from the innate tendency to rely on a regular rate of reinforcement. Conversely, a drug-enhanced capacity to cope with delay may involve an internal ability to adjust expectancy about such a reinforcing rate.

Reward-potentiating effects of D-1 dopamine receptor agonist and AMPAR GluR1 antagonist in nucleus accumbens shell and their modulation by food restriction

RATIONALE

Previous studies have suggested that chronic food restriction (FR) increases sensitivity of a neural substrate for drug reward. The neuroanatomical site(s) of key neuroadaptations may include nucleus accumbens (NAc) where changes in D-1 dopamine (DA) receptor-mediated cell signaling and gene expression have been documented.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of the present study was to begin bridging the behavioral and tissue studies by microinjecting drugs directly into NAc medial shell and assessing behavioral effects in free-feeding and FR subjects.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Rats were implanted with microinjection cannulae in NAc medial shell and a subset were implanted with a stimulating electrode in lateral hypothalamus. Reward-potentiating effects of the D-1 DA receptor agonist, SKF-82958, AMPAR antagonist, DNXQ, and polyamine GluR1 antagonist, 1-na spermine, were assessed using the curve-shift method of self-stimulation testing. Motor-activating effects of SKF-82958 were also assessed.

RESULTS

SKF-82958 (2.0 and 5.0 microg) produced greater reward-potentiating and motor-activating effects in FR than ad libitum fed (AL) rats. DNQX (1.0 microg) and 1-na spermine (1.0 and 2.5 microg) selectively decreased the x-axis intercept of rate-frequency curves in FR subjects, reflecting increased responding for previously subthreshold stimulation.

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest that FR may facilitate reward-directed behavior via multiple neuroadaptations in NAc medial shell including upregulation of D-1 DA receptor function involved in the selection and expression of goal-directed behavior, and increased GluR1-mediated activation of cells that inhibit nonreinforced responses.

Effects of the MEK inhibitor, SL-327, on rewarding, motor- and cellular-activating effects of D-amphetamine and SKF-82958, and their augmentation by food restriction in rat

RATIONALE

Food restriction (FR) enhances learned and unlearned behavioral responses to drugs of abuse and increases D-1 dopamine (DA) receptor-mediated activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK) 1/2 MAP kinase in nucleus accumbens (NAc). While a role has been established for ERK signaling in drug-mediated associative learning, it is not clear whether ERK regulates unconditioned behavioral effects of abused drugs.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to determine whether blockade of ERK signaling, using the brain-penetrant MEK inhibitor, SL-327, decreases behavioral or NAc cellular responses to acute drug treatment and their augmentation by FR.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Separate experiments assessed the effects of SL-327 (50 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) on (1) the reward-potentiating effect of D-amphetamine in an intracranial self-stimulation protocol, (2) the locomotor-activating effect of the D-1 agonist, SKF-82958, and (3) Fos-immunostaining induced in the NAc by SKF-82958.

RESULTS

FR rats displayed enhanced responses to drug treatment on all measures. SL-327 had no effect on sensitivity to rewarding brain stimulation or the reward-potentiating effect of D-amphetamine. The MEK inhibitor, U0126, microinjected into the NAc was also without effect. The locomotor-activating effect of SKF-82958 was unaffected by SL-327. In contrast, SL-327 decreased NAc Fos-immunostaining and abolished the difference between feeding groups.

CONCLUSIONS

These results support the conclusion that ERK signaling does not mediate unlearned behavioral responses to drug treatment. However, the upregulation of ERK and downstream transcriptional responses to acute drug treatment may underlie the reported enhancement of reward-related learning in FR subjects.

Modeling the role of environment in addiction

The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the main types of animal models used to investigate the modulatory role of environment on drug addiction. The environment can alter the responsiveness to addictive drugs in at least three major ways. First, adverse life experiences can make an individual more vulnerable to develop drug addiction or to relapse into drug seeking. Second, neutral environmental cues can acquire, through Pavlovian conditioning, the ability to trigger drug seeking even after long periods of abstinence. Third, the environment immediately surrounding drug taking can alter the behavioral, subjective, and rewarding effects of a given drug, thus influencing the propensity to use the same drug again. We have focused in particular on the results obtained using an animal model we have developed to study the latter type of drug-environment interaction.

Behavioral and biochemical effects of various food-restriction regimens in the rats

In this paper we describe the effects of six different food restriction (FR) regimens on amphetamine (AMPH)-induced locomotor and nonlocomotor activities in male rats. Changes in serum corticosterone (CORT), insulin and glucose levels were also examined. Each regimen was implemented through different daily food allowance (50%, 25% and 12.5% of the daily food intake, referred to as 50%, 75% and 87.5% FR groups, respectively) and by a specific feeding regimen - either every day (ED) or every other day (EOD). AMPH injection led to a significant increase of locomotor activity in all rats subjected to FR compared to ad libitum fed rats. A significant increase of nonlocomotor activity was observed only in the 75% FR and 87.5% FR groups. The serum CORT levels were significantly elevated and the serum insulin and glucose levels were significantly decreased in all of the FR groups in comparison to the AL rats. The results presented in this paper suggest that the ED regimens produced changes in motor activity and biochemical parameters, which were more-or-less dependent on the degree of FR. In contrast, the EOD regimens induced very similar changes irrespective of the degree of FR degree. Our data support the possible mechanistic roles of CORT and insulin in the effect of FR on locomotor activity, since the most pronounced increase of serum CORT and more pronounced decrease in serum insulin concentration was observed in the groups that also exhibited the highest locomotor activities.

The adenosine A2A receptor agonist, CGS-21680, blocks excessive rearing, acquisition of wheel running, and increases nucleus accumbens CREB phosphorylation in chronically food-restricted rats

Adenosine A(2A) receptors are preferentially expressed in rat striatum, where they are concentrated in dendritic spines of striatopallidal medium spiny neurons and exist in a heteromeric complex with D(2) dopamine (DA) receptors. Behavioral and biochemical studies indicate an antagonistic relationship between A(2A) and D(2) receptors. Previous studies have demonstrated that food-restricted (FR) rats display behavioral and striatal cellular hypersensitivity to D(1) and D(2) DA receptor stimulation. These alterations may underlie adaptive, as well as maladaptive, behaviors characteristic of the FR rat. The present study examined whether FR rats are hypersensitive to the A(2A) receptor agonist, CGS-21680. In Experiment 1, spontaneous horizontal motor activity did not differ between FR and ad libitum fed (AL) rats, while vertical activity was greater in the former. Intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) administration of CGS-21680 (0.25 and 1.0 nmol) decreased both types of motor activity in FR rats, and returned vertical activity levels to those observed in AL rats. In Experiment 2, FR rats given access to a running wheel for a brief period outside of the home cage rapidly acquired wheel running while AL rats did not. Pretreatment with CGS-21680 (1.0 nmol) blocked the acquisition of wheel running. When administered to FR subjects that had previously acquired wheel running, CGS-21680 suppressed the behavior. In Experiment 3, CGS-21680 (1.0 nmol) activated both ERK 1/2 and CREB in caudate-putamen with no difference between feeding groups. However, in nucleus accumbens (NAc), CGS-21680 failed to activate ERK 1/2 and selectively activated CREB in FR rats. These results indicate that FR subjects are hypersensitive to several effects of an adenosine A(2A) agonist, and suggest the involvement of an upregulated A(2A) receptor-linked signaling pathway in NAc. Medications targeting the A(2A) receptor may have utility in the treatment of maladaptive behaviors associated with FR, including substance abuse and compulsive exercise.

Chronic food restriction: enhancing effects on drug reward and striatal cell signaling

Chronic food restriction (FR) increases behavioral sensitivity to drugs of abuse in animal models and is associated with binge eating, which shares comorbidity with drug abuse, in clinical populations. Behavioral, biochemical and molecular studies conducted in this laboratory to elucidate the functional and mechanistic bases of these phenomena are briefly reviewed. Results obtained to date indicate that FR increases the reward magnitude and locomotor-activating effects of abused drugs, and direct dopamine (DA) receptor agonists, as a result of neuroadaptations rather than changes in drug disposition. Changes in striatal DA dynamics, and postsynaptic cell signaling and gene expression in response to D-1 DA receptor stimulation have been observed. Of particular interest is an upregulation of NMDA receptor-dependent MAP kinase and CaM Kinase II signaling, CREB phosphorylation, and immediate-early and neuropeptide gene expression in nucleus accumbens (NAc) which may facilitate reward-related learning, but also play a role in the genesis of maladaptive goal-directed behaviors. Covariation of altered drug reward sensitivity with body weight loss and recovery suggests a triggering role for one of the endocrine adiposity hormones. However, neither acute nor chronic central infusions of leptin or the melanocortin 3/4 receptor agonist, MTII, have attenuated d-amphetamine reward or locomotor activation in FR rats. Interestingly, chronic intracerebroventricular leptin infusion in ad libitum fed (AL) rats produced a sustained decrease in food intake and body weight that was accompanied by a reversible potentiation of rewarding and locomotor-activating effects of d-amphetamine. This raises the interesting possibility that rapid progressive weight loss is sufficient to increase behavioral sensitivity to drugs of abuse. Whether weight loss produced by leptin infusion produces the same neuroadaptations as experimenter-imposed FR, and whether any of the observed neuroadaptations are necessary for expression of increased behavioral responsiveness to acute drug challenge remain to be investigated.

Synthesis, protein levels, activity, and phosphorylation state of tyrosine hydroxylase in mesoaccumbens and nigrostriatal dopamine pathways of chronically food-restricted rats

Chronic food restriction (FR) enhances the rewarding and motor-activating effects of abused drugs, and is accompanied by changes in dopamine (DA) dynamics and increased D-1 DA receptor-mediated cell signaling and transcriptional responses in nucleus accumbens (NAc). However, little is known about effects of FR on DA synthetic activity in the mesoaccumbens and nigrostriatal pathways. In Experiment 1 of the present study, tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) gene expression was measured in ventral tegmental area and substantia nigra, using real-time RT-PCR and in situ hybridization; no differences were observed between FR and ad libitum fed (AL) rats. In Experiment 2, TH protein levels, determined by Western blot, were found to be elevated in NAc and caudate-putamen (CPu) of FR relative to AL rats. In the absence of increased transcription, this may reflect a slowing of TH degradation. In Experiments 3 and 4, DA synthetic activity was assessed by Western blot measurement of TH phosphorylation at Ser40, and HPLC measurement of in vivo tyrosine hydroxylation rate, as reflected by DOPA accumulation following administration of a decarboxylase inhibitor (NSD-1015; 100 mg/kg, i.p.). Basal phospho-(Ser40)-TH levels did not differ between groups but DOPA accumulation was decreased by FR. Decreased DOPA synthesis, despite increased levels of TH protein, may reflect the inhibitory effect of increased DA binding to TH protein or decreased concentrations of cofactor tetrahydrobiopterin. Finally, in response to D-amphetamine (0.5 and 5.0 mg/kg, i.p.), phospho-(Ser40)-TH was selectively decreased in NAc of FR rats. This suggests increased feedback inhibition of DA synthesis-a possible consequence of postsynaptic receptor hypersensitivity, or increased extracellular DA concentration. These results indicate that FR increases TH protein levels, but may decrease the capacity for DA synthesis by decreasing TH activity. According to this scheme, the previously observed upregulation of striatal cell signaling and transcriptional responses to DA receptor agonist administration may include compensatory neuroadaptations.

Food-induced behavioral sensitization, its cross-sensitization to cocaine and morphine, pharmacological blockade, and effect on food intake

Repeated administration of abused drugs sensitizes their stimulant effects and results in a drug-paired environment eliciting conditioned activity. We tested whether food induces similar effects. Food-deprived male mice were given novel food during 30 min tests in a runway (FR group) that measured locomotor activity. Whereas the activity of this group increased with repeated testing, that of a group exposed to the runways but that received the food in the home cage (FH group), or of a group satiated by prefeeding before testing (SAT group), decreased. When exposed to the runways in the absence of food, the paired group was more active than the other groups (conditioned activity); no activity differences were seen in an alternative, non-food-paired, apparatus. Conditioned activity survived a 3-week period without runway exposure. Conditioned activity was selectively reduced by the opiate antagonist naltrexone (10-20 mg/kg) and by the noncompetitive AMPA receptor antagonist GYKI 52466 [1-(4-aminophenyl)-4-methyl-7,8-methylenedioxy-5H-2,3-benzodiazepine hydrochloride] (5-10 mg/kg). The D1 antagonist SCH23390 [R(+)-7-chloro-8-hydroxy-3-methyl-1-phenyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-3-benzazepine hydrochloride] (15-30 microg/kg) and D2 antagonist sulpiride (25-125 mg/kg) reduced activity nonspecifically. A single intraperitoneal dose of cocaine (10 mg/kg) or morphine (20 mg/kg) increased activity compared with saline, the stimulant effect being larger in the FR group, suggesting "cross-sensitization" to these drugs. However, pretreatment with GYKI 52466 or naltrexone at doses that suppressed conditioned activity in FR animals suppressed cross-sensitization to cocaine. When allowed ad libitum access to food in the runway, FR mice consumed more pellets in a time-limited test. Thus, many of the features of behavioral sensitization to drugs can be demonstrated using food reward and may contribute to excessive eating.

Anorexia nervosa with excessive exercise: a phenotype with close links to obsessive-compulsive disorder

Anorexia nervosa (AN) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are highly comorbid, and appear to share a common neurophysiological dysfunction that contributes to the obsessional thoughts and compulsive behaviours seen in both disorders. Obsessive-compulsive personality (OCP) traits are also important risk factors for AN. Since excessive exercise has also been associated with greater obsessionality, we hypothesised that AN patients with a hyperactive behavioural profile represent a phenotype more closely linked to OCD than their non-exercising counterparts. We examined prospectively 50 female AN-Restrictor patients whom we classified as "excessive" or "non-excessive" based on their exercise status i) at admission and ii) over the lifetime of their illness. Validated measures of OCD symptoms and OCP traits were obtained at admission and after refeeding at discharge. On both classification methods, excessive exercisers had greater OCD symptoms and OCP traits than the non-excessive group, but did not differ on body mass index. OCD symptoms, but not OCP traits, decreased between admission and discharge. Findings support our prediction that AN patients with excessive physical activity constitute a subtype of the disorder with strong links to OCD. Indeed, this phenotype may be a culture-bound variant of OCD.

Behavioral and molecular effects of dopamine D1 receptor stimulation during naloxone-precipitated morphine withdrawal

Morphine dependence is characterized by somatic and motivational signs of withdrawal that likely contribute to the maintenance of addictive behavior. The nucleus accumbens (NAc) receives extensive dopaminergic input and is an important substrate for mediating these aversive states. In the NAc, the function of the transcription factor cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) and AMPA glutamate receptor subunit, type 1 (GluR1) can be regulated by dopamine (DA) D1 receptor-mediated phosphorylation (P-CREB, P-GluR1). However, the roles of D1 receptors, CREB, and GluR1 in morphine dependence are not well understood. Here, we show that somatic signs of naloxone-precipitated withdrawal were associated with increased P-CREB, but not P-GluR1, in the NAc of morphine-dependent rats. The D1 receptor agonist chloro-APB hydrobromide (SKF 82958) was rewarding in morphine-dependent rats and blocked naloxone-induced place aversions and somatic signs of withdrawal. Surprisingly, SKF 82958 increased P-GluR1, but not P-CREB, in the NAc, and naloxone reduced SKF 82958-mediated P-GluR1 induction specifically in morphine-dependent rats. Together, these results confirm that aversive treatments can increase CREB function in the NAc. Furthermore, they suggest a dependence-associated shift in the molecular mechanisms that regulate the consequences of D1 receptor stimulation, favoring activation of GluR1 rather than CREB. These data raise the possibility that the rewarding effects of SKF 82958 in morphine-dependent rats involve increased P-GluR1 in the NAc, although the involvement of other brain regions cannot be ruled out. Regardless, these findings suggest for the first time that D1 agonists might be useful for the treatment of withdrawal symptoms that contribute to the maintenance of opiate addiction in humans.

Effects of central leptin infusion on the reward-potentiating effect of D-amphetamine

It was previously reported that chronic food restriction and maintenance of rats at 75-80% of initial body weight enhanced the reward-potentiating effect of D-amphetamine in the lateral hypothalamic self-stimulation (LHSS) paradigm. Moreover, the enhancement reversed in parallel with body weight recovery when ad libitum access to food was reinstated. The present study tested the hypothesis that hypoleptinemia during food restriction is necessary for expression of enhanced drug reward. In Experiment 1, intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) infusion of leptin (0.5 microg/0.5 microl/hr for 8 days) in food-restricted rats did not alter the rewarding effect of D-amphetamine (0.5 mg/kg, i.p.). Considering that i.c.v. leptin may not diffuse into deep brain regions where direct effects on drug reward sensitivity may be exerted, effects of acute bilateral microinjection of leptin (0.5 microg) in ventral tegmental area and nucleus accumbens were tested in Experiment 2 and found to have no effect. In Experiment 3, chronic i.c.v. leptin infusion in ad libitum fed rats decreased food intake and body weight and enhanced the rewarding effect of D-amphetamine. Sensitivity to D-amphetamine returned to normal as body weight recovered following cessation of leptin infusion. This result suggests that weight loss, whether from hormone-induced appetite suppression or experimenter-imposed food restriction, is sufficient to enhance drug reward sensitivity. Experiment 4 tested whether food restriction in the absence of body weight loss alters drug reward sensitivity. Rats received chronic i.c.v. infusion of the orexigenic melanocortin receptor antagonist, SHU9119 (0.02 microg/0.5 microl/hr for 12 days), and a subset were pair-fed to vehicle-infused controls. Although these subjects ingested approximately 50% of the amount of food ingested by free-feeding SHU9119-infused rats, they displayed no weight loss and no change in sensitivity to D-amphetamine. Together, results of this study support the importance of weight loss, but not leptin, in the enhancement of drug reward sensitivity.

Chronic food restriction and dopamine transporter function in rat striatum

The present communication reports on DA uptake in rat striatum in a model of chronic food restriction. The K(m) for DA uptake was unaltered, but the V(max) was reduced by 32%, not supporting the idea that the enhanced behavioral sensitivity to cocaine or d-amphetamine upon chronic food restriction is due to a greater density of DAT at the plasma membrane for drug interaction. Chronic food restriction did not alter the potency of cocaine or D-amphetamine in inhibiting DA uptake in the striatum, suggesting that the enhanced behavioral sensitivity to these drugs upon chronic food restriction is not due to their enhanced affinity for DAT. These results point to factors other than DAT density or affinity underlying the sensitized response to psychostimulants in food restriction.

Chronic food restriction enhances memory in mice--analysis with matched drive levels

We compared the effects of chronic and acute food deprivation on learning and memory using a dry-type water maze, active avoidance and passive avoidance in C57BL/6L mice. The drive level of the animals--under acute and chronic food deprivation--was matched by a progressive ratio schedule. Both deprivations led to a high degree of activity in the animals; however, the animals on an acute dietary restriction did not exhibit a significantly better performance than those on ad libitum feeding, while those on a chronic food deprivation exhibited memory enhancement. These effects were subtle and were found at a later stage of learning. These findings suggest that chronic food restriction induces memory consolidation or resistance to memory reduction in addition to increased activity.

Striatal cell signaling in chronically food-restricted rats under basal conditions and in response to brief handling

Chronic food restriction increases exploratory behavior, cognitive function, and the rewarding effects of abused drugs. Recently, striatal neuroadaptations that may be involved in these effects were observed. Specifically, D-1 dopamine (DA) receptor agonist challenge produced stronger activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), calcium-calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CaMKII), and the nuclear transcription factor cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) in nucleus accumbens (NAc) of food-restricted (FR) relative to ad libitum fed (AL) rats. Further, when FR rats were injected intracerebroventricularly (i.c.v.) with vehicle (saline) they displayed stronger activation of c-Jun N-terminal protein kinase (JNK), ERK and CaMKII than did AL rats. It is not known to what extent the latter effects represent the basal state of FR rats or an amplified response to the brief handling involved in the i.c.v. injection procedure. Using Western blotting it was found that basal phospho-JNK is higher in caudate-putamen (CPu) and NAc of FR relative to AL rats. Interestingly, brief handling decreased phospho-JNK levels in FR subjects. Basal phospho-ERK1/2 also tended to be elevated in CPu and NAc of FR rats but the elevation was not significant. However, phospho-MEK--the activated kinase upstream of ERK1/2--was significantly elevated in NAc of FR rats. Neither ERK1/2 nor MEK were activated by brief handling. CaMKII was selectively activated by handling in NAc of FR rats, suggesting a state-dependent response to a salient event. Given the established involvement of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and CaMKII in synaptic plasticity, learning and memory, the increase in basal phospho-MEK and hyperresponsiveness of CaMKII in NAc may represent adaptive cellular responses to persistent negative energy balance that facilitate associative learning in connection with food-seeking.

Feeding, body weight, and sensitivity to non-ingestive reward stimuli during and after 12-day continuous central infusions of melanocortin receptor ligands

The brain melanocortin system mediates downstream effects of hypothalamic leptin and insulin signaling. Yet, there have been few studies of chronic intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) melanocortin receptor (MCR) agonist or antagonist infusion. Although there is evidence of interaction between melanocortin and dopamine (DA) systems, effects of chronic MCR ligand infusion on behavioral sensitivity to non-ingestive reward stimuli have not been investigated. The objective of this study was to investigate effects of chronic i.c.v. infusion of the MCR agonist, MTII, and the MCR antagonist, SHU9119, on food intake, body weight, and sensitivity to rewarding lateral hypothalamic electrical stimulation (LHSS) and the reward-potentiating (i.e., threshold-lowering) effect of D-amphetamine. The MCR antagonist, SHU9119 (0.02 microg/h) produced sustained hyperphagia and weight gain during the 12-day infusion period, followed by compensatory hypophagia and an arrest of body weight gain during the 24-day post-infusion period. At no point during the experiment was sensitivity to LHSS or D-amphetamine (0.25mg/kg, i.p.) altered. The MCR agonist, MTII (0.02 microg/h) produced a brief hypophagia (3 days) followed by a return to control levels of daily intake, but with body weight remaining at a reduced level throughout the 12-day infusion period. This was followed by compensatory hyperphagia and weight gain during the 24-day post-infusion period. There was no change in sensitivity to non-ingestive reward stimuli during the infusion of MTII. However, sensitivity to D-amphetamine was increased during the 24-day post-infusion period. It therefore seems that changes in ingestive behavior that occur during chronic MCR ligand infusion may not affect the response to non-ingestive reward stimuli. However, it is possible that the drive to re-feed and restore body weight following MCR agonist treatment includes neuroadaptations that enhance the incentive effects of drug stimuli.

Comparison of basal and D-1 dopamine receptor agonist-stimulated neuropeptide gene expression in caudate-putamen and nucleus accumbens of ad libitum fed and food-restricted rats

Behavioral studies have demonstrated that chronic food restriction augments the rewarding and motor-activating effects of centrally injected psychostimulants and direct dopamine (DA) receptor agonists. Recently, it has been shown that intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of the D-1 DA receptor agonist, SKF-82958, produces an enhanced locomotor-activating effect as well as increased activation of striatal ERK 1/2 MAP kinase, CaM kinase II, CREB, and c-fos in food-restricted (FR) relative to ad libitum fed (AL) rats. Striatal neurons that express the D-1 DA receptor coexpress dynorphin and substance P, and CREB is known to couple D-1 DA receptor stimulation to preprodynorphin (ppD) gene expression. The purpose of the present study was to examine possible genomic consequences of FR using real-time quantitative RT-PCR to measure striatal neuropeptide gene expression 3 h after i.c.v. injection of SKF-82958 (20 microg). Results indicate that, in nucleus accumbens (NAc), basal levels of ppD and preprotachykinin (ppT) mRNA are lower in FR than AL rats. This may reflect a decrease in tonic DA transmission during FR which precedes the compensatory upregulation of postsynaptic D-1 DA receptor-mediated cell signaling. In response to SKF-82958 challenge, however, FR subjects displayed greater levels of ppD and ppT mRNA in NAc than did AL subjects. A similar trend was seen in caudate-putamen (CPu). SKF-82958 also increased preproenkephalin (ppE) mRNA in Nac, but not CPu, with no difference between feeding groups. The present findings regarding ppD and ppT are consistent with prior findings of increased behavioral and cellular responses to acute D-1 DA agonist challenge in FR rats. The functional consequences of increased neuropeptide gene expression in response to acute drug challenge remain to be investigated but may include modulation of behavioral effects that emerge with repeated drug exposure, including sensitization, tolerance, and addiction.

Food restriction increases NMDA receptor-mediated calcium—calmodulin kinase II and NMDA receptor/extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2-mediated cyclic amp response element-binding protein phosphorylation in nucleus accumbens upon D-1 dopamine receptor stimulation in rats

Biological drive states exert homeostatic control in part by increasing the reinforcing effects of environmental incentive stimuli. An apparent by-product of this adaptive response is the enhanced acquisition of drug self-administration behavior in food-restricted (FR) animals. While previous research has demonstrated increased central sensitivity to rewarding effects of abused drugs and direct dopamine (DA) receptor agonists in FR subjects, the underlying neurobiology is not well understood. Recently, it was demonstrated that intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of the D-1 DA receptor agonist, SKF-82958 produces a stronger activation of striatal extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2 and cyclic AMP response element-binding protein (CREB) in FR relative to ad libitum (AL) fed rats. The main purpose of the present study was to characterize the involvement and mechanisms of interaction between NMDA receptor function and the augmented cellular responses to D-1 DA receptor stimulation in nucleus accumbens (NAc) of FR rats. In experiment 1, Western immunoblotting was used to demonstrate that i.c.v. injection of SKF-82958 (20 microg) produces greater phosphorylation of the NMDA NR1 subunit and calcium-calmodulin kinase II (CaMK II) in NAc of FR as compared with AL rats. In experiment 2, pretreatment of subjects with the NMDA antagonist, MK-801 (1.0 mg/kg, i.p.) decreased SKF-82958-induced activation of CaMK II, ERK1/2 and CREB, and reversed the augmenting effect of FR on activation of all three proteins. In experiment 3, pretreatment with the mitogen-activated protein kinase/ERK kinase inhibitor SL-327 (60 mg/kg, i.p.) suppressed SKF-82958- induced activation of ERK1/2 and reversed the augmenting effect of FR on CREB activation. These results point to specific neuroadaptations in the NAc of FR rats whereby D-1 DA receptor stimulation leads to increased NMDA NR1 subunit phosphorylation and consequent increases in NMDA receptor-dependent CaMK II and ERK1/2 signaling, and increased NMDA receptor/ERK1/2-dependent phosphorylation of the nuclear transcription factor, CREB. The upregulated cellular responses to D-1 DA agonist challenge may play a role in the augmentation of drug reward and appetitive instrumental learning during periods of food restriction.

Effects of the group I metabotropic glutamate receptor agonist, DHPG, and injection stress on striatal cell signaling in food-restricted and ad libitum fed rats

Background

Chronic food restriction augments the rewarding effect of centrally administered psychostimulant drugs and this effect may involve a previously documented upregulation of D-1 dopamine receptor-mediated MAP kinase signaling in nucleus accumbens (NAc) and caudate-putamen (CPu). Psychostimulants are known to induce striatal glutamate release, and group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR) have been implicated in the cellular and behavioral responses to amphetamine. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate whether chronic food restriction increases striatal MAP kinase signaling in response to the group I mGluR agonist, DHPG.

Results

Western immunoblotting was used to demonstrate that intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of DHPG (500 nmol) produces greater activation of ERK1/2 and CREB in CPu and NAc of food-restricted as compared to ad libitum fed rats. Fos-immunostaining induced by DHPG was also stronger in CPu and NAc core of food-restricted relative to ad libitum fed rats. However, i.c.v. injection of saline-vehicle produced greater activation of ERK1/2 and CREB in CPu and NAc of food-restricted relative to ad libitum fed rats, and this difference was not seen when subjects received no i.c.v. injection prior to sacrifice. In addition, although DHPG activated Akt, there was no difference in Akt activation between feeding groups. To probe whether the augmented ERK1/2 and CREB activation in vehicle-injected food-restricted rats are mediated by one or more GluR types, effects of an NMDA antagonist (MK-801, 100 nmol), AMPA antagonist (DNQX, 10 nmol), and group I mGluR antagonist (AIDA, 100 nmol) were compared to saline-vehicle. Antagonist injections did not diminish activation of ERK1/2 or CREB.

Conclusions

These results indicate that a group I mGluR agonist induces phosphorylation of Akt, ERK1/2 and CREB in both CPu and NAc. However, group I mGluR-mediated signaling may not be upregulated in food-restricted rats. Rather, a physiological response to "i.c.v. injection stress" is augmented by food restriction and appears to summate with effects of the group I mGluR agonist in activating ERK1/2 and CREB. While the augmented cellular response of food-restricted rats to i.c.v. injection treatment represents additional evidence of enhanced CNS responsiveness in these subjects, the functional significance and underlying mechanism(s) of this effect remain to be elucidated.

A progressive ratio schedule of self-stimulation testing in rats reveals profound augmentation of d-amphetamine reward by food restriction but no effect of a "sensitizing" regimen of d-amphetamine

RATIONALE

Prior research indicates that psychostimulant-induced sensitization is not expressed in lateral hypothalamic electrical self-stimulation (LHSS)-based measures of drug reward, although the augmenting effect of chronic food restriction is. Neuroadaptations within the brain dopamine system have been identified in both psychostimulant-sensitized and food-restricted animals. Consequently, a variant of the LHSS paradigm in which responding is particularly sensitive to changes in dopaminergic tone may be best suited to detect and compare effects of chronic d-amphetamine and food restriction. Instrumental responding on a progressive ratio (PR) schedule is more sensitive to dopaminergic manipulations than is responding on a continuous reinforcement (CRF) schedule, but has not previously been used to examine chronic psychostimulant and food restriction effects on LHSS-based measures of drug reward.

OBJECTIVE

The first aim of this study was to determine whether a regimen of d-amphetamine treatment, that produces locomotor sensitization (5 mg/kg per day x5 days), increases the reward-potentiating effect of d-amphetamine in a PR LHSS protocol. The second aim, was to determine whether chronic food restriction produces a marked increase in the reward-potentiating effect of d-amphetamine in the PR LHSS protocol and, if so, whether it is reversible in parallel with body weight recovery when free feeding is restored.

METHOD

Reward-potentiating effects of a challenge dose of d-amphetamine (0.25 mg/kg, IP) were measured in terms of the break point of LHSS responding on a PR schedule of reinforcement, in ad libitum fed and food-restricted rats.

RESULTS

A regimen of d-amphetamine treatment that produced locomotor sensitization did not increase the break point for LHSS in the presence or absence of d-amphetamine. Chronic food restriction produced a marked increase in the break point-increasing effect of d-amphetamine (3-fold), which returned to baseline in parallel with body weight recovery over a 4-week period of restored free-feeding.

CONCLUSIONS

A locomotor-sensitizing regimen of d-amphetamine treatment does not increase the rewarding effect of LH electrical stimulation or the reward-potentiating effect of d-amphetamine in a PR LHSS protocol. The augmenting effect of chronic food restriction on drug reward is mechanistically and functionally different from psychostimulant sensitization and may be controlled by signals associated with adipose depletion and repletion.