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Friske MM, Torrico EC, Haas MJW, Borruto AM, Giannone F, Hade AC, Yu Y, Gao L, Sutherland GT, Hitzemann R, Philips MA, Fei SS, Sommer WH, Mayfield RD, Spanagel R. A systematic review and meta-analysis on the transcriptomic signatures in alcohol use disorder. Mol Psychiatry 2024:10.1038/s41380-024-02719-x. [PMID: 39242950 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-024-02719-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2024] [Revised: 08/20/2024] [Accepted: 08/22/2024] [Indexed: 09/09/2024]
Abstract
Currently available clinical treatments on alcohol use disorder (AUD) exhibit limited efficacy and new druggable targets are required. One promising approach to discover new molecular treatment targets involves the transcriptomic profiling of brain regions within the addiction neurocircuitry, utilizing animal models and postmortem brain tissue from deceased patients with AUD. Unfortunately, such studies suffer from large heterogeneity and small sample sizes. To address these limitations, we conducted a cross-species meta-analysis on transcriptome-wide data obtained from brain tissue of patients with AUD and animal models. We integrated 36 cross-species transcriptome-wide RNA-expression datasets with an alcohol-dependent phenotype vs. controls, following the PRISMA guidelines. In total, we meta-analyzed 964 samples - 502 samples from the prefrontal cortex (PFC), 282 nucleus accumbens (NAc) samples, and 180 from amygdala (AMY). The PFC had the highest number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) across rodents, monkeys, and humans. Commonly dysregulated DEGs suggest conserved cross-species mechanisms for chronic alcohol consumption/AUD comprising MAPKs as well as STAT, IRF7, and TNF. Furthermore, we identified numerous unique gene sets that might contribute individually to these conserved mechanisms and also suggest novel molecular aspects of AUD. Validation of the transcriptomic alterations on the protein level revealed interesting targets for further investigation. Finally, we identified a combination of DEGs that are commonly regulated across different brain tissues as potential biomarkers for AUD. In summary, we provide a compendium of genes that are assessable via a shiny app, and describe signaling pathways, and physiological and cellular processes that are altered in AUD that require future studies for functional validation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marion M Friske
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
- Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research and the Department of Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
| | - Eva C Torrico
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Maximilian J W Haas
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Anna M Borruto
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Francesco Giannone
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Andreas-Christian Hade
- Department of Pathological Anatomy and Forensic Medicine, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
- Forensic Medical Examination Department, Estonian Forensic Science Institute, Tallinn, Estonia
| | - Yun Yu
- Bioinformatics & Biostatistics Core, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University West Campus, Portland, OR, USA
| | - Lina Gao
- Bioinformatics & Biostatistics Core, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University West Campus, Portland, OR, USA
| | - Greg T Sutherland
- New South Wales Tissue Resource Center, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
| | - Robert Hitzemann
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA
| | - Mari-Anne Philips
- Department of Physiology, Institute of Biomedicine and Translational Medicine, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Suzanne S Fei
- Bioinformatics & Biostatistics Core, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University West Campus, Portland, OR, USA
| | - Wolfgang H Sommer
- Bethania Hospital for Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Greifswald, Germany
- German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), Partner Site Mannheim-Heidelberg-Ulm, Mannheim, Germany
| | - R Dayne Mayfield
- Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research and the Department of Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Rainer Spanagel
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
- German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), Partner Site Mannheim-Heidelberg-Ulm, Mannheim, Germany.
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2
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Meinhardt MW, Gerlach B, Spanagel R. Good Practice Guideline for Preclinical Alcohol Research: The STRINGENCY Framework. Curr Top Behav Neurosci 2024. [PMID: 39117860 DOI: 10.1007/7854_2024_484] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/10/2024]
Abstract
Research in the field of preclinical alcohol research, but also science in general, has a problem: Many published scientific results cannot be repeated. As a result, findings from preclinical research often do not translate well to humans, causing increasing disappointment and calls for restructuring of preclinical research, that is, better reproducibility of preclinical research. However, the replication crisis is an inherent problem in biomedical research. Replication failures are not only due to small experimental variations but are often the result of poor methodology. In response to the replication crisis, numerous guidelines and recommendations have been proposed to promote transparency, rigor, and reproducibility in scientific research. What is missing today is a framework that integrates all the confusing information that results from all these guidelines and recommendations. Here we present STRINGENCY, an integrative approach to good practice guidelines for preclinical alcohol research, which can also apply to behavioral research in general and which aims to improve preclinical research to better prepare it for translation and minimize the "valley of death" in translational research. STRINGENCY includes systematic review and, when possible, meta-analysis prior to study design, sample size calculation, preregistration, multisite experiments, scientific data management (FAIR), reporting of data using ARRIVE, generalization of research data, and transparent publications that allow reporting of null results. We invite the scientific community to adopt STRINGENCY to improve the reliability and impact of preclinical alcohol research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcus W Meinhardt
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
- Department of Molecular Neuroimaging, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Björn Gerlach
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
- Guarantors of EQIPD e.V., Heidelberg, Germany
- PAASP GmbH, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Rainer Spanagel
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
- German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), Mannheim, Heidelberg, Ulm, Germany.
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3
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Giannone F, Ebrahimi C, Endrass T, Hansson AC, Schlagenhauf F, Sommer WH. Bad habits-good goals? Meta-analysis and translation of the habit construct to alcoholism. Transl Psychiatry 2024; 14:298. [PMID: 39030169 PMCID: PMC11271507 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-024-02965-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2023] [Revised: 05/19/2024] [Accepted: 05/24/2024] [Indexed: 07/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Excessive alcohol consumption remains a global public health crisis, with millions suffering from alcohol use disorder (AUD, or simply "alcoholism"), leading to significantly reduced life expectancy. This review examines the interplay between habitual and goal-directed behaviors and the associated neurobiological changes induced by chronic alcohol exposure. Contrary to a strict habit-goal dichotomy, our meta-analysis of the published animal experiments combined with a review of human studies reveals a nuanced transition between these behavioral control systems, emphasizing the need for refined terminology to capture the probabilistic nature of decision biases in individuals with a history of chronic alcohol exposure. Furthermore, we distinguish habitual responding from compulsivity, viewing them as separate entities with diverse roles throughout the stages of the addiction cycle. By addressing species-specific differences and translational challenges in habit research, we provide insights to enhance future investigations and inform strategies for combatting AUD.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Giannone
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
| | - C Ebrahimi
- Faculty of Psychology, Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062, Dresden, Germany
| | - T Endrass
- Faculty of Psychology, Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062, Dresden, Germany
| | - A C Hansson
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
| | - F Schlagenhauf
- Department of Psychotherapy, Campus Charité Mitte, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin & St. Hedwig Hospital, 10117, Berlin, Germany
| | - W H Sommer
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, 68159, Mannheim, Germany.
- Bethania Hospital for Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Greifswald, Germany.
- German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), Partner Site Mannheim-Heidelberg-Ulm, 68159, Mannheim, Germany.
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Crombag HS, Duka T, Stephens DN. The Continuing Challenges of Studying Parallel Behaviours in Humans and Animal Models. Curr Top Behav Neurosci 2024. [PMID: 38976140 DOI: 10.1007/7854_2024_485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/09/2024]
Abstract
The use of animal models continues to be essential for carrying out research into clinical phenomena, including addiction. However, the complexity of the clinical condition inevitably means that even the best animal models are inadequate, and this may go some way to account for the apparent failures of discoveries from animal models, including the identification of potential novel therapies, to translate to the clinic. We argue here that it is overambitious and misguided in the first place to attempt to model complex, multifacetted human disorders such as addiction in animals, and especially in rodents, and that all too frequently "validity" of such models is limited to superficial similarities, referred to as "face validity", that reflect quite different underlying phenomena and biological processes from the clinical situation. Instead, a more profitable approach is to identify (a) well-defined intermediate human behavioural phenotypes that reflect defined, limited aspects of, or contributors to, the human clinical disorder, and (b) to develop animal models that are homologous with those discrete human behavioural phenotypes in terms of psychological processes, and underlying neurobiological mechanisms. Examples of past and continuing weaknesses and suggestions for more limited approaches that may allow better homology between the test animal and human condition are made.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hans S Crombag
- School of Psychology and Sussex Neuroscience, The University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.
| | - Theodora Duka
- School of Psychology and Sussex Neuroscience, The University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
| | - David N Stephens
- School of Psychology and Sussex Neuroscience, The University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
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Nentwig TB, Obray JD, Kruyer A, Wilkes ET, Vaughan DT, Scofield MD, Chandler LJ. Central Amygdala Astrocyte Plasticity Underlies GABAergic Dysregulation in Ethanol Dependence. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.06.11.598470. [PMID: 38915577 PMCID: PMC11195260 DOI: 10.1101/2024.06.11.598470] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/26/2024]
Abstract
Dependence is a hallmark of alcohol use disorder characterized by excessive alcohol intake and withdrawal symptoms. The central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) is a key brain structure underlying the synaptic and behavioral consequences of ethanol dependence. While accumulating evidence suggests that astrocytes regulate synaptic transmission and behavior, there is a limited understanding of the role astrocytes play in ethanol dependence. The present study used a combination of viral labeling, super resolution confocal microscopy, 3D image analysis, and slice electrophysiology to determine the effects of chronic intermittent ethanol (CIE) exposure on astrocyte plasticity in the CeA. During withdrawal from CIE exposure, we observed increased GABA transmission, an upregulation in astrocytic GAT3 levels, and an increased proximity of astrocyte processes near CeA synapses. Furthermore, GAT3 levels and synaptic proximity were positively associated with voluntary ethanol drinking in dependent rats. Slice electrophysiology confirmed that the upregulation in astrocytic GAT3 levels was functional, as CIE exposure unmasked a GAT3-sensitive tonic GABA current in the CeA. A causal role for astrocytic GAT3 in ethanol dependence was assessed using viral-mediated GAT3 overexpression and knockdown approaches. However, GAT3 knockdown or overexpression had no effect on somatic withdrawal symptoms, dependence-escalated ethanol intake, aversion-resistant drinking, or post-dependent ethanol drinking in male or female rats. Moreover, intra-CeA pharmacological inhibition of GAT3 also did not alter dependent ethanol drinking. Together, these findings indicate that ethanol dependence induces GABAergic dysregulation and astrocyte plasticity in the CeA. However, astrocytic GAT3 does not appear necessary for the drinking related phenotypes associated with dependence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Todd B. Nentwig
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston SC 29425, United States
| | - J. Daniel Obray
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston SC 29425, United States
| | - Anna Kruyer
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston SC 29425, United States
- Current affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - Erik T Wilkes
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston SC 29425, United States
| | - Dylan T. Vaughan
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston SC 29425, United States
- Current affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Michael D. Scofield
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston SC 29425, United States
| | - L. Judson Chandler
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston SC 29425, United States
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6
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Lapish CC. Understanding How Acute Alcohol Impacts Neural Encoding in the Rodent Brain. Curr Top Behav Neurosci 2024. [PMID: 38858298 DOI: 10.1007/7854_2024_479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2024]
Abstract
Alcohol impacts neural circuitry throughout the brain and has wide-ranging effects on the biophysical properties of neurons in these circuits. Articulating how these wide-ranging effects might eventually result in altered computational properties has the potential to provide a tractable working model of how alcohol alters neural encoding. This chapter reviews what is currently known about how acute alcohol influences neural activity in cortical, hippocampal, and dopaminergic circuits as these have been the primary focus of understanding how alcohol alters neural computation. While other neural systems have been the focus of exhaustive work on this topic, these brain regions are the ones where in vivo neural recordings are available, thus optimally suited to make the link between changes in neural activity and behavior. Rodent models have been key in developing an understanding of how alcohol impacts the function of these circuits, and this chapter therefore focuses on work from mice and rats. While progress has been made, it is critical to understand the challenges and caveats associated with experimental procedures, especially when performed in vivo, which are designed to answer this question and if/how to translate these data to humans. The hypothesis is discussed that alcohol impairs the ability of neural circuits to acquire states of neural activity that are transiently elevated and characterized by increased complexity. It is hypothesized that these changes are distinct from the traditional view of alcohol being a depressant of neural activity in the forebrain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher C Lapish
- Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology, and Physiology, Stark Neuroscience Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
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7
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Becker HC, Lopez MF. Animal Models of Excessive Alcohol Consumption in Rodents. Curr Top Behav Neurosci 2024. [PMID: 38340255 DOI: 10.1007/7854_2024_461] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/12/2024]
Abstract
The development of animal models that demonstrate excessive levels of alcohol consumption has played an important role in advancing our knowledge about neurobiological underpinnings and environmental circumstances that engender such maladaptive behavior. The use of these preclinical models has also provided valuable opportunities for discovering new and novel therapeutic targets that may be useful in the treatment of alcohol use disorder (AUD). While no single model can fully capture the complexities of AUD, the goal is to develop animal models that closely approximate characteristics of heavy alcohol drinking in humans to enhance their translational value and utility. A variety of experimental approaches have been employed to produce the desired phenotype of interest-robust and reliable excessive levels of alcohol drinking. Here we provide an updated review of five animal models that are commonly used. The models entail procedural manipulations of scheduled access to alcohol (time of day, duration, frequency), periods of time when access to alcohol is withheld, and history of alcohol exposure. Specially, the models involve (a) scheduled access to alcohol, (b) scheduled periods of alcohol deprivation, (c) scheduled intermittent access to alcohol, (d) scheduled-induced polydipsia, and (e) chronic alcohol (dependence) and withdrawal experience. Each of the animal models possesses unique experimental features that engender excessive levels of alcohol consumption. Both advantages and disadvantages of each model are described along with discussion of future work to be considered in developing more optimal models. Ultimately, the validity and utility of these models will lie in their ability to aid in the discovery of new and novel potential therapeutic targets as well as serve as a platform to evaluate treatment strategies that effectively reduce excessive levels of alcohol consumption associated with AUD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Howard C Becker
- Charleston Alcohol Research Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.
- Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.
- Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.
- RHJ Veterans Administration Health Care System, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.
| | - Marcelo F Lopez
- Charleston Alcohol Research Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
- Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
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Pérez-Cervera L, De Santis S, Marcos E, Ghorbanzad-Ghaziany Z, Trouvé-Carpena A, Selim MK, Pérez-Ramírez Ú, Pfarr S, Bach P, Halli P, Kiefer F, Moratal D, Kirsch P, Sommer WH, Canals S. Alcohol-induced damage to the fimbria/fornix reduces hippocampal-prefrontal cortex connection during early abstinence. Acta Neuropathol Commun 2023; 11:101. [PMID: 37344865 PMCID: PMC10286362 DOI: 10.1186/s40478-023-01597-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2023] [Accepted: 05/30/2023] [Indexed: 06/23/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Alcohol dependence is characterized by a gradual reduction in cognitive control and inflexibility to contingency changes. The neuroadaptations underlying this aberrant behavior are poorly understood. Using an animal model of alcohol use disorders (AUD) and complementing diffusion-weighted (dw)-MRI with quantitative immunohistochemistry and electrophysiological recordings, we provide causal evidence that chronic intermittent alcohol exposure affects the microstructural integrity of the fimbria/fornix, decreasing myelin basic protein content, and reducing the effective communication from the hippocampus (HC) to the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Using a simple quantitative neural network model, we show how disturbed HC-PFC communication may impede the extinction of maladaptive memories, decreasing flexibility. Finally, combining dw-MRI and psychometric data in AUD patients, we discovered an association between the magnitude of microstructural alteration in the fimbria/fornix and the reduction in cognitive flexibility. Overall, these findings highlight the vulnerability of the fimbria/fornix microstructure in AUD and its potential contribution to alcohol pathophysiology. Fimbria vulnerability to alcohol underlies hippocampal-prefrontal cortex dysfunction and correlates with cognitive impairment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Pérez-Cervera
- Instituto de Neurociencias, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas and Universidad Miguel Hernández, Sant Joan d'Alacant, Alicante, Spain
| | - Silvia De Santis
- Instituto de Neurociencias, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas and Universidad Miguel Hernández, Sant Joan d'Alacant, Alicante, Spain
| | - Encarni Marcos
- Instituto de Neurociencias, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas and Universidad Miguel Hernández, Sant Joan d'Alacant, Alicante, Spain
| | - Zahra Ghorbanzad-Ghaziany
- Instituto de Neurociencias, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas and Universidad Miguel Hernández, Sant Joan d'Alacant, Alicante, Spain
- Radiation Science and Biomedical Imaging, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada
| | - Alejandro Trouvé-Carpena
- Instituto de Neurociencias, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas and Universidad Miguel Hernández, Sant Joan d'Alacant, Alicante, Spain
| | - Mohamed Kotb Selim
- Instituto de Neurociencias, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas and Universidad Miguel Hernández, Sant Joan d'Alacant, Alicante, Spain
| | - Úrsula Pérez-Ramírez
- Center for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, Spain
| | - Simone Pfarr
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Patrick Bach
- Department of Addiction Medicine, Department of Clinical Psychology, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Patrick Halli
- Department of Psychology, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Falk Kiefer
- Department of Addiction Medicine, Department of Clinical Psychology, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
| | - David Moratal
- Center for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, Spain
| | - Peter Kirsch
- Department of Psychology, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Wolfgang H Sommer
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany.
- Department of Addiction Medicine, Department of Clinical Psychology, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany.
| | - Santiago Canals
- Instituto de Neurociencias, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas and Universidad Miguel Hernández, Sant Joan d'Alacant, Alicante, Spain.
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9
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Quintanilla ME, Israel Y. Role of Metabolism on Alcohol Preference, Addiction, and Treatment. Curr Top Behav Neurosci 2023. [PMID: 37221350 DOI: 10.1007/7854_2023_422] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Studies presented in this chapter show that: (1) in the brain, ethanol is metabolized by catalase to acetaldehyde, which condenses with dopamine forming salsolinol; (2) acetaldehyde-derived salsolinol increases the release of dopamine mediating, via opioid receptors, the reinforcing effects of ethanol during the acquisition of ethanol consumption, while (3) brain acetaldehyde does not influence the maintenance of chronic ethanol intake, it is suggested that a learned cue-induced hyperglutamatergic system takes precedence over the dopaminergic system. However, (4) following a prolonged ethanol deprivation, the generation of acetaldehyde in the brain again plays a role, contributing to the increase in ethanol intake observed during ethanol re-access, called the alcohol deprivation effect (ADE), a model of relapse behavior; (5) naltrexone inhibits the high ethanol intake seen in the ADE condition, suggesting that acetaldehyde-derived salsolinol via opioid receptors also contributes to the relapse-like drinking behavior. The reader is referred to glutamate-mediated mechanisms that trigger the cue-associated alcohol-seeking and that also contribute to triggering relapse.
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Affiliation(s)
- María Elena Quintanilla
- Molecular and Clinical Pharmacology Program, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile.
| | - Yedy Israel
- Molecular and Clinical Pharmacology Program, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile
- Centro de Medicina Regenerativa, ICM Clinica Alemana-Universidad de Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile
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De Oliveira Sergio T, Frasier RM, Hopf FW. Animal models of compulsion alcohol drinking: Why we love quinine-resistant intake and what we learned from it. Front Psychiatry 2023; 14:1116901. [PMID: 37032937 PMCID: PMC10080007 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1116901] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2022] [Accepted: 02/17/2023] [Indexed: 04/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) ranks among the most prevalent mental disorders, extracting ~$250 billion/year in the US alone and producing myriad medical and social harms. Also, the number of deaths related to problem drinking has been increasing dramatically. Compulsive alcohol drinking, characterized by intake that persists despite negative consequences, can be particularly important and a major obstacle to treatment. With the number of people suffering from AUD increasing during the past years, there is a critical need to understand the neurobiology related to compulsive drives for alcohol, as well as the development of novel AUD pharmacological therapies. Here we discuss rodent compulsion-like alcohol drinking (CLAD) models, focusing on the two most widely used adverse stimuli to model rodent compulsion-like responding, quinine adulteration of alcohol and footshook-resistant alcohol intake. For both cases, the goal is to uncover behavior patterns and brain circuits that underlie drive for alcohol even in the face of negative consequences. We discuss caveats, benefits, and potential brain mechanisms, of models for consequence-resistant responding for alcohol more generally, and especially highlight some advantages of quinine-resistance over footshook-resistance. Further, since this review contributes to a Special issue focused on Molecular Aspects of Compulsive Drug Use, we discuss our new findings showing how the noradrenergic system is related to CLAD responding. In particular, we comment on the importance of α1 and β adrenergic receptors (ARs) as potential targets for treating AUD.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Raizel M Frasier
- Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States
| | - Frederic W Hopf
- Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States
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11
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Domanegg K, Sommer WH, Meinhardt MW. Psychedelic Targeting of Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor 2 and Its Implications for the Treatment of Alcoholism. Cells 2023; 12:963. [PMID: 36980303 PMCID: PMC10047550 DOI: 10.3390/cells12060963] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2023] [Revised: 03/16/2023] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Alcohol abuse is a leading risk factor for the public health burden worldwide. Approved pharmacotherapies have demonstrated limited effectiveness over the last few decades in treating alcohol use disorders (AUD). New therapeutic approaches are therefore urgently needed. Historical and recent clinical trials using psychedelics in conjunction with psychotherapy demonstrated encouraging results in reducing heavy drinking in AUD patients, with psilocybin being the most promising candidate. While psychedelics are known to induce changes in gene expression and neuroplasticity, we still lack crucial information about how this specifically counteracts the alterations that occur in neuronal circuits throughout the course of addiction. This review synthesizes well-established knowledge from addiction research about pathophysiological mechanisms related to the metabotropic glutamate receptor 2 (mGlu2), with findings and theories on how mGlu2 connects to the major signaling pathways induced by psychedelics via serotonin 2A receptors (2AR). We provide literature evidence that mGlu2 and 2AR are able to regulate each other's downstream signaling pathways, either through monovalent crosstalk or through the formation of a 2AR-mGlu2 heteromer, and highlight epigenetic mechanisms by which 2ARs can modulate mGlu2 expression. Lastly, we discuss how these pathways might be targeted therapeutically to restore mGlu2 function in AUD patients, thereby reducing the propensity to relapse.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin Domanegg
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Wolfgang H. Sommer
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany
- Bethanien Hospital for Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy Greifswald, 17489 Greifswald, Germany
| | - Marcus W. Meinhardt
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Molecular Neuroimaging, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany
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12
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Domi E, Barchiesi R, Barbier E. Epigenetic Dysregulation in Alcohol-Associated Behaviors: Preclinical and Clinical Evidence. Curr Top Behav Neurosci 2023. [PMID: 36717533 DOI: 10.1007/7854_2022_410] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is characterized by loss of control over intake and drinking despite harmful consequences. At a molecular level, AUD is associated with long-term neuroadaptations in key brain regions that are involved in reward processing and decision-making. Over the last decades, a great effort has been made to understand the neurobiological basis underlying AUD. Epigenetic mechanisms have emerged as an important mechanism in the regulation of long-term alcohol-induced gene expression changes. Here, we review the literature supporting a role for epigenetic processes in AUD. We particularly focused on the three most studied epigenetic mechanisms: DNA methylation, Histone modification and non-coding RNAs. Clinical studies indicate an association between AUD and DNA methylation both at the gene and global levels. Using behavioral paradigms that mimic some of the characteristics of AUD, preclinical studies demonstrate that changes in epigenetic mechanisms can functionally impact alcohol-associated behaviors. While many studies support a therapeutic potential for targeting epigenetic enzymes, more research is needed to fully understand their role in AUD. Identification of brain circuits underlying alcohol-associated behaviors has made major advances in recent years. However, there are very few studies that investigate how epigenetic mechanisms can affect these circuits or impact the neuronal ensembles that promote alcohol-associated behaviors. Studies that focus on the role of circuit-specific and cell-specific epigenetic changes for clinically relevant alcohol behaviors may provide new insights on the functional role of epigenetic processes in AUD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esi Domi
- Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
- School of Pharmacy, Pharmacology Unit, Center for Neuroscience, University of Camerino, Camerino, Italy
| | - Riccardo Barchiesi
- Department of Neuroscience, Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Alcohol Addiction Research, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Estelle Barbier
- Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
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13
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Friske MM, Giannone F, Senger M, Seitz R, Hansson AC, Spanagel R. Chronic alcohol intake regulates expression of SARS-CoV2 infection-relevant genes in an organ-specific manner. ALCOHOL, CLINICAL & EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH 2023; 47:76-86. [PMID: 36774629 DOI: 10.1111/acer.14981] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2022] [Revised: 11/11/2022] [Accepted: 11/14/2022] [Indexed: 02/13/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Chronic alcohol consumption and alcohol use disorder have a tremendous impact on the patient's psychological and physiological health. There is evidence that chronic alcohol consumption influences SARS-CoV2 infection risk, but so far, the molecular mechanism underlying such an effect is unknown. METHODS We generated the expression data of SARS-CoV2 infection-relevant genes (Ace2, Tmprss2, and Mas) in different organs in rat models of chronic alcohol exposure and alcohol dependence. Ace2 and Tmprss2 represent the virus entry point, whereas Mas activates the anti-inflammatory response once the cells are infected. RESULTS Across three different chronic alcohol test conditions, we found a consistent upregulation of Ace2 gene expression in the lung, which has been shown to be the most affected organ in COVID-19 patients. Other organs such as liver, ileum, kidney, heart, and brain also showed upregulation of Ace2 and Mas gene expression but less consistently across the different animal models, while Tmprss2 expression was unaffected in all conditions. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that alcohol-induced upregulation of Ace2 gene expression can lead to an elevated stochastic probability of virus entry into cells and may thus confer a molecular risk for SARS-CoV2 infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marion M Friske
- Central Institute of Mental Health, Institute of Psychopharmacology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Francesco Giannone
- Central Institute of Mental Health, Institute of Psychopharmacology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Mona Senger
- Central Institute of Mental Health, Institute of Psychopharmacology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Robin Seitz
- Central Institute of Mental Health, Institute of Psychopharmacology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Anita C Hansson
- Central Institute of Mental Health, Institute of Psychopharmacology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Rainer Spanagel
- Central Institute of Mental Health, Institute of Psychopharmacology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
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14
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Körber C, Sommer WH. From ensembles to meta-ensembles: Specific reward encoding by correlated network activity. Front Behav Neurosci 2022; 16:977474. [PMID: 36177094 PMCID: PMC9513968 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.977474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2022] [Accepted: 08/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Neuronal ensembles are local, sparsely distributed populations of neurons that are reliably re-activated by a specific stimulus, context or task. Such discrete cell populations can be defined either functionally, by electrophysiological recordings or in vivo calcium imaging, or anatomically, using the expression of markers such as the immediate early gene cFos. A typical example of tasks that involve the formation of neuronal ensembles is reward learning, such as the cue-reward pairing during operant conditioning. These ensembles are re-activated during cue-presentation and increasing evidence suggests that this re-activation is the neurophysiological basis for the execution of reward-seeking behavior. Whilst the pursuit of rewards is a common daily activity, it is also related to the consumption of drugs, such as alcohol, and may result in problematic behaviors including addiction. Recent research has identified neuronal ensembles in several reward-related brain regions that control distinct aspects of a conditioned response, e.g., contextual information about the availability of a specific reward or the actions needed to retrieve this reward under the given circumstances. Here, we review studies using the activity marker cFos to identify and characterize neuronal ensembles related to alcohol and non-drug rewards with a special emphasis on the discrimination between different rewards by meta-ensembles, i.e., by dynamic co-activation of multiple ensembles across different brain areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christoph Körber
- Department of Functional Neuroanatomy, Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Wolfgang H Sommer
- Medical Faculty Mannheim, Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
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15
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Vengeliene V, Spanagel R. mGlu2 mechanism-based interventions to treat alcohol relapse. Front Pharmacol 2022; 13:985954. [PMID: 36188569 PMCID: PMC9520163 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2022.985954] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Recently we identified a deficiency in metabotropic glutamate receptor 2 (mGlu2) function in the corticoaccumbal pathway, as a common pathological mechanism underlying alcohol-seeking and relapse behavior. Based on this mechanism, we hypothesized that mGlu2/3 agonists and mGlu2 positive allosteric modulators (PAMs) may be effective in reducing relapse-like behavior. Two mGlu2/3 agonists, LY379268 and LY354740 (a structural analog of LY379268 six-fold more potent in activating mGlu2 over mGluR3), were tested in a well-established rat model of relapse, the alcohol deprivation effect (ADE) with repeated deprivation phases. Since these agonists do not readily discriminate between contributions of mGlu2 and mGluR3, we also tested LY487379, a highly specific PAM that potentiates the effect of glutamate on the mGlu2 with less specificity on other mGlu receptor subtypes. Both LY379268 and LY354740 significantly and dose-dependently reduced the expression of the ADE. No significant changes in water intake, body weight and locomotor activity were observed. Importantly, repeated administration of mGlu2/3 agonist did not lead to tolerance development. mGlu2 PAM LY487379 treatment significantly reduced expression of the ADE in both male and female rats. Combination treatment of mGlu2/3 agonist and PAM had similar effect on relapse-like drinking to that seen in mGlu2/3 agonist treatment alone. Together with other preclinical data showing that PAMs can reduce alcohol-seeking behavior we conclude that mGlu2 PAMs should be considered for clinical trials in alcohol-dependent patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentina Vengeliene
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Faculty of Medicine Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Neurobiology and Biophysics, Institute of Biosciences, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Rainer Spanagel
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Faculty of Medicine Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
- *Correspondence: Rainer Spanagel,
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16
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Aldridge GM, Zarin TA, Brandner AJ, George O, Gilpin NW, Repunte-Canonigo V, Sanna PP, Koob GF, Vendruscolo LF, Schmeichel BE. Effects of single and dual hypocretin-receptor blockade or knockdown of hypocretin projections to the central amygdala on alcohol drinking in dependent male rats. ADDICTION NEUROSCIENCE 2022; 3:100028. [PMID: 35965958 PMCID: PMC9365098 DOI: 10.1016/j.addicn.2022.100028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Hypocretin/Orexin (HCRT) is a neuropeptide that is associated with both stress and reward systems in humans and rodents. The different contributions of signaling at hypocretin-receptor 1 (HCRT-R1) and hypocretin-receptor 2 (HCRT-R2) to compulsive alcohol drinking are not yet fully understood. Thus, the current studies used pharmacological and viral-mediated targeting of HCRT to determine participation in compulsive alcohol drinking and measured HCRT-receptor mRNA expression in the extended amygdala of both alcohol-dependent and non-dependent male rats. Rats were made dependent through chronic intermittent exposure to alcohol vapor and were tested for the acute effect of HCRT-R1-selective (SB-408124; SB-R1), HCRT-R2-selective (NBI-80713; NB-R2), or dual HCRT-R1/2 (NBI-87571; NB-R1/2) antagonism on alcohol intake. NB-R2 and NB-R1/2 antagonists each dose-dependently decreased overall alcohol drinking in alcohol-dependent rats, whereas, SB-R1 decreased alcohol drinking in both alcohol-dependent and non-dependent rats at the highest dose (30 mg/kg). SB-R1, NB-R2, and NB-R1/2 treatment did not significantly affect water drinking in either alcohol-dependent or non-dependent rats. Additional PCR analyses revealed a significant decrease in Hcrtr1 mRNA expression within the central amygdala (CeA) of dependent rats under acute withdrawal conditions compared to nondependent rats. Lastly, a shRNA-encoding adeno-associated viral vector with retrograde function was used to knockdown HCRT in CeA-projecting neurons from the lateral hypothalamus (LH). LH-CeA HCRT knockdown significantly attenuated alcohol self-administration in alcohol-dependent rats. These observations suggest that HCRT signaling in the CeA is necessary for alcohol-seeking behavior during dependence. Together, these data highlight a role for both HCRT-R1 and -R2 in dependent alcohol-seeking behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel M. Aldridge
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, 37614, USA
| | - Tyler A. Zarin
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, 37614, USA
| | - Adam J. Brandner
- Integrative Neuroscience Research Branch, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA
| | - Olivier George
- Committee on the Neurobiology of Addictive Disorders, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Nicholas W. Gilpin
- Committee on the Neurobiology of Addictive Disorders, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Physiology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA, 70112, USA
| | - Vez Repunte-Canonigo
- Committee on the Neurobiology of Addictive Disorders, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Scripps Research, La Jolla, CA 92037, United States
| | - Pietro P. Sanna
- Committee on the Neurobiology of Addictive Disorders, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Scripps Research, La Jolla, CA 92037, United States
| | - George F. Koob
- Integrative Neuroscience Research Branch, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA
- Committee on the Neurobiology of Addictive Disorders, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Leandro F. Vendruscolo
- Integrative Neuroscience Research Branch, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA
- Committee on the Neurobiology of Addictive Disorders, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Brooke E. Schmeichel
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, 37614, USA
- Integrative Neuroscience Research Branch, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA
- Committee on the Neurobiology of Addictive Disorders, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
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17
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Pérez-Ramírez Ú, López-Madrona VJ, Pérez-Segura A, Pallarés V, Moreno A, Ciccocioppo R, Hyytiä P, Sommer WH, Moratal D, Canals S. Brain Network Allostasis after Chronic Alcohol Drinking Is Characterized by Functional Dedifferentiation and Narrowing. J Neurosci 2022; 42:4401-4413. [PMID: 35437279 PMCID: PMC9145238 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0389-21.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2021] [Revised: 03/25/2022] [Accepted: 03/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) causes complex alterations in the brain that are poorly understood. The heterogeneity of drinking patterns and the high incidence of comorbid factors compromise mechanistic investigations in AUD patients. Here we used male Marchigian Sardinian alcohol-preferring (msP) rats, a well established animal model of chronic alcohol drinking, and a combination of longitudinal resting-state fMRI and manganese-enhanced MRI to provide objective measurements of brain connectivity and activity, respectively. We found that 1 month of chronic alcohol drinking changed the correlation between resting-state networks. The change was not homogeneous, resulting in the reorganization of pairwise interactions and a shift in the equilibrium of functional connections. We identified two fundamentally different forms of network reorganization. First is functional dedifferentiation, which is defined as a regional increase in neuronal activity and overall correlation, with a concomitant decrease in preferential connectivity between specific networks. Through this mechanism, occipital cortical areas lost their specific interaction with sensory-insular cortex, striatal, and sensorimotor networks. Second is functional narrowing, which is defined as an increase in neuronal activity and preferential connectivity between specific brain networks. Functional narrowing strengthened the interaction between striatal and prefrontocortical networks, involving the anterior insular, cingulate, orbitofrontal, prelimbic, and infralimbic cortices. Importantly, these two types of alterations persisted after alcohol discontinuation, suggesting that dedifferentiation and functional narrowing rendered persistent network states. Our results support the idea that chronic alcohol drinking, albeit at moderate intoxicating levels, induces an allostatic change in the brain functional connectivity that propagates into early abstinence.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Excessive consumption of alcohol is positioned among the top five risk factors for disease and disability. Despite this priority, the transformations that the nervous system undergoes from an alcohol-naive state to a pathologic alcohol drinking are not well understood. In our study, we use an animal model with proven translational validity to study this transformation longitudinally. The results show that shortly after chronic alcohol consumption there is an increase in redundant activity shared by brain structures, and the specific communication shrinks to a set of pathways. This functional dedifferentiation and narrowing are not reversed immediately after alcohol withdrawal but persist during early abstinence. We causally link chronic alcohol drinking with an early and abstinence-persistent retuning of the functional equilibrium of the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Úrsula Pérez-Ramírez
- Center for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de València, E-46022 Valencia, Spain
| | - Víctor J López-Madrona
- Instituto de Neurociencias, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Universidad Miguel Hernández, 03550 Sant Joan d'Alacant, Spain
| | - Andrés Pérez-Segura
- Instituto de Neurociencias, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Universidad Miguel Hernández, 03550 Sant Joan d'Alacant, Spain
| | - Vicente Pallarés
- Instituto de Neurociencias, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Universidad Miguel Hernández, 03550 Sant Joan d'Alacant, Spain
| | - Andrea Moreno
- Instituto de Neurociencias, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Universidad Miguel Hernández, 03550 Sant Joan d'Alacant, Spain
| | | | - Petri Hyytiä
- Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
| | - Wolfgang H Sommer
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
| | - David Moratal
- Center for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de València, E-46022 Valencia, Spain
| | - Santiago Canals
- Instituto de Neurociencias, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Universidad Miguel Hernández, 03550 Sant Joan d'Alacant, Spain
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18
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Sommer WH, Canals S, Bifone A, Heilig M, Hyytiä P. From a systems view to spotting a hidden island: A narrative review implicating insula function in alcoholism. Neuropharmacology 2022; 209:108989. [PMID: 35217032 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2022.108989] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2021] [Revised: 01/30/2022] [Accepted: 02/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Excessive use of alcohol promotes the development of alcohol addiction, but the understanding of how alcohol-induced brain alterations lead to addiction remains limited. To further this understanding, we adopted an unbiased discovery strategy based on the principles of systems medicine. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging data from patients and animal models of alcohol addiction-like behaviors, and developed mathematical models of the 'relapse-prone' network states to identify brain sites and functional networks that can be selectively targeted by therapeutic interventions. Our systems level, non-local, and largely unbiased analyses converged on a few well-defined brain regions, with the insula emerging as one of the most consistent finding across studies. In proof-of-concept experiments we were able to demonstrate that it is possible to guide network dynamics towards increased resilience in animals but an initial translation into a clinical trial targeting the insula failed. Here, in a narrative review, we summarize the key experiments, methodological developments and knowledge gained from this completed round of a discovery cycle moving from identification of 'relapse-prone' network states in humans and animals to target validation and intervention trial. Future concerted efforts are necessary to gain a deeper understanding of insula function a in a state-dependent, circuit-specific and cell population perspective, and to develop the means for insula-directed interventions, before therapeutic targeting of this structure may become possible.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wolfgang H Sommer
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Bethania Hospital for Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, Greifswald, Germany.
| | - Santiago Canals
- Instituto de Neurociencias, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas and Universidad Miguel Hernández, 03550, Sant Joan d'Alacant, Spain
| | - Angelo Bifone
- Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences, University of Torino, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Center for Sustainable Future Technologies, Torino, Italy
| | - Markus Heilig
- Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University and Dept. of Psychiatry, Linköping Univ. Hospital, S-581 85, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Petri Hyytiä
- Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Finland
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19
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Meinhardt MW, Giannone F, Hirth N, Bartsch D, Spampinato SM, Kelsch W, Spanagel R, Sommer WH, Hansson AC. Disrupted circadian expression of beta-arrestin 2 affects reward-related µ-opioid receptor function in alcohol dependence. J Neurochem 2021; 160:454-468. [PMID: 34919270 DOI: 10.1111/jnc.15559] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2021] [Revised: 12/09/2021] [Accepted: 12/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
There is increasing evidence for a daily rhythm of μ-opioid receptor (MOR) efficacy and the development of alcohol dependence. Previous studies show that beta-Arrestin 2 (bArr2) has an impact on alcohol intake, at least partially mediated via modulation of MOR signaling, which in turn mediates the alcohol rewarding effects. Considering the interplay of circadian rhythms on MOR and alcohol dependence, we aimed to investigate bArr2 in alcohol dependence at different time-points of the day/light cycle on the level of bArr2 mRNA (in situ hybridization), MOR availability (receptor autoradiography) and MOR signaling (Damgo-stimulated G-protein coupling) in the nucleus accumbens of alcohol-dependent and non-dependent Wistar rats. Using a microarray data set we found that bArr2, but not bArr1, shows a diurnal transcription pattern in the accumbens of naïve rats with higher expression levels during the active cycle. In three-week abstinent rats, bArr2 is upregulated in the accumbens at the beginning of the active cycle (ZT15), whereas no differences were found at the beginning of the inactive cycle (ZT3), compared to controls. This effect was accompanied with a specific downregulation of MOR binding in the active cycle. Additionally, we detect a higher receptor coupling during the inactive cycle compared to the active cycle in alcohol-dependent animals. Together, we report a daily rhythmicity for bArr2 expression linked to an inverse pattern of MOR, suggesting an involvement for bArr2 on circadian regulation of G-protein coupled receptors in alcohol dependence. The presented data may have implications for the development of novel bArr2-related treatment targets for alcoholism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcus W Meinhardt
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Square J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany.,Department of Molecular Neuroimaging, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Square J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Francesco Giannone
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Square J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Nathalie Hirth
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Square J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Dusan Bartsch
- Department of Molecular Biology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Square J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Santi M Spampinato
- Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University of Bologna, Via Irnerio 48, 40126, Bologna, Italy
| | - Wolfgang Kelsch
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Square J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Rainer Spanagel
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Square J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Wolfgang H Sommer
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Square J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Anita C Hansson
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Square J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
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20
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Meinhardt MW, Pfarr S, Fouquet G, Rohleder C, Meinhardt ML, Barroso-Flores J, Hoffmann R, Jeanblanc J, Paul E, Wagner K, Hansson AC, Köhr G, Meier N, von Bohlen und Halbach O, Bell RL, Endepols H, Neumaier B, Schönig K, Bartsch D, Naassila M, Spanagel R, Sommer WH. Psilocybin targets a common molecular mechanism for cognitive impairment and increased craving in alcoholism. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2021; 7:eabh2399. [PMID: 34788104 PMCID: PMC8598005 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abh2399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2021] [Accepted: 09/28/2021] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Alcohol-dependent patients commonly show impairments in executive functions that facilitate craving and can lead to relapse. However, the molecular mechanisms leading to executive dysfunction in alcoholism are poorly understood, and new effective pharmacological treatments are desired. Here, using a bidirectional neuromodulation approach, we demonstrate a causal link between reduced prefrontal mGluR2 function and both impaired executive control and alcohol craving. A neuron-specific prefrontal mGluR2 knockdown in rats generated a phenotype of reduced cognitive flexibility and excessive alcohol seeking. Conversely, virally restoring prefrontal mGluR2 levels in alcohol-dependent rats rescued these pathological behaviors. In the search for a pharmacological intervention with high translational potential, psilocybin was capable of restoring mGluR2 expression and reducing relapse behavior. Last, we propose a FDG-PET biomarker strategy to identify mGluR2 treatment-responsive individuals. In conclusion, we identified a common molecular pathological mechanism for both executive dysfunction and alcohol craving and provided a personalized mGluR2 mechanism-based intervention strategy for medication development for alcoholism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcus W. Meinhardt
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
- Corresponding author. (M.W.M.); (W.H.S.); (R.S.)
| | - Simone Pfarr
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
| | - Grégory Fouquet
- Université de Picardie Jules Verne, INSERM UMRS, 1247 Amiens, France
| | - Cathrin Rohleder
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
- Institute of Radiochemistry and Experimental Molecular Imaging, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
- Department of Multimodal Imaging, Max Planck Institute for Neurological Research, Cologne, Germany
- Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Manuela L. Meinhardt
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
| | - Janet Barroso-Flores
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
| | - Rebecca Hoffmann
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
| | - Jérôme Jeanblanc
- Université de Picardie Jules Verne, INSERM UMRS, 1247 Amiens, France
| | - Elisabeth Paul
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
| | - Konstantin Wagner
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
| | - Anita C. Hansson
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
| | - Georg Köhr
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
- Department of Neurophysiology, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Nils Meier
- Institute for Anatomy and Cell Biology, Universitätsmedizin Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | | | - Richard L. Bell
- Department of Psychiatry, Stark Neuroscience Research Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA
| | - Heike Endepols
- Institute of Radiochemistry and Experimental Molecular Imaging, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
- Department of Multimodal Imaging, Max Planck Institute for Neurological Research, Cologne, Germany
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
- Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Nuclear Chemistry (INM-5), Jülich, Germany
| | - Bernd Neumaier
- Institute of Radiochemistry and Experimental Molecular Imaging, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
- Institute for Anatomy and Cell Biology, Universitätsmedizin Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Kai Schönig
- Department of Molecular Biology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Dusan Bartsch
- Department of Molecular Biology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Mickaël Naassila
- Université de Picardie Jules Verne, INSERM UMRS, 1247 Amiens, France
| | - Rainer Spanagel
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
- Corresponding author. (M.W.M.); (W.H.S.); (R.S.)
| | - Wolfgang H. Sommer
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
- Department of Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
- Corresponding author. (M.W.M.); (W.H.S.); (R.S.)
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21
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Bach P, Weil G, Pompili E, Hoffmann S, Hermann D, Vollstädt-Klein S, Kiefer F, Mann K, Sommer WH. FMRI-based prediction of naltrexone response in alcohol use disorder: a replication study. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2021; 271:915-927. [PMID: 33884495 PMCID: PMC8236024 DOI: 10.1007/s00406-021-01259-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2020] [Accepted: 03/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Pharmacological treatment in alcohol use disorder suffers from modest effect sizes. Efforts have been undertaken to identify patient characteristics that help to select individuals that benefit from pharmacological treatment. Previous studies indicated that neural alcohol cue-reactivity (CR) might provide a marker that identifies patients, which benefit from naltrexone treatment.We investigated the reproducibility of the association between ventral striatum (VS) activation and naltrexone (NTX) treatment response by analyzing data from a recent longitudinal clinical trial in N = 44 abstinent treatment-seeking alcohol-dependent patients. A follow-up was conducted over 3 months. We computed the percentage of significant voxels in VS and tested main effects and interactions with NTX treatment on relapse risk using Cox Regression models.We found a significant interaction effect between pre-treatment cue reactivity in the VS and NTX treatment on time to first heavy relapse (Hazard Ratio = 7.406, 95% CI 1.17-46.56, p = 0.033), such that the patient group with high VS activation (defined by a mean split) showed a significant medication effect (Hazard Ratio = 0.140, 95% CI 0.02-0.75, p = 0.022) with a number needed to treat of 3.4 [95% CI 2.413.5], while there was no significant effect in the group with low VS activation (Hazard Ratio = 0.726, p = 0.454).Thus, using an independent sample we replicated the previously described positive association between VS activation and NTX efficacy. Although our results should be considered cautiously in light of the small sample size, our results support the potential of neural alcohol CR as a tool for precision medicine approaches in alcohol dependence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Bach
- Department of Addictive Behavior and Addiction Medicine, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg, Square J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany.
- Feuerlein Center On Translational Addiction Medicine (FCTS), University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Georg Weil
- Department of Addictive Behavior and Addiction Medicine, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg, Square J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Enrico Pompili
- Department of Addictive Behavior and Addiction Medicine, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg, Square J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Sabine Hoffmann
- Department of Addictive Behavior and Addiction Medicine, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg, Square J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
- Feuerlein Center On Translational Addiction Medicine (FCTS), University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Derik Hermann
- Department of Addictive Behavior and Addiction Medicine, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg, Square J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
- Feuerlein Center On Translational Addiction Medicine (FCTS), University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Sabine Vollstädt-Klein
- Department of Addictive Behavior and Addiction Medicine, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg, Square J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Falk Kiefer
- Department of Addictive Behavior and Addiction Medicine, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg, Square J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
- Feuerlein Center On Translational Addiction Medicine (FCTS), University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Karl Mann
- Department of Addictive Behavior and Addiction Medicine, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg, Square J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Wolfgang H Sommer
- Department of Addictive Behavior and Addiction Medicine, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg, Square J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
- Bethanien Hospital for Psychiatry, Greifswald, Germany
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22
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Alaux‐Cantin S, Alarcon R, Audegond C, Simon O'Brien E, Martinetti MP, Ahmed SH, Nalpas B, Perney P, Naassila M. Sugar, a powerful substitute for ethanol in ethanol postdependent rats: Relevance for clinical consideration? Addict Biol 2021; 26:e13023. [PMID: 33559189 DOI: 10.1111/adb.13023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2019] [Revised: 01/10/2021] [Accepted: 01/29/2021] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Sugar has been shown to be a powerful substitute for drugs in preclinical studies on addiction. However, the link between sugar intake and alcohol use disorder (AUD) is poorly understood. We assessed the influence of sucrose on ethanol drinking in both nondependent (ND) and dependent (D) Long-Evans rats during acute withdrawal using the postdependent state model. Ethanol (10%-40%) and sucrose (1%-4%) solutions were offered in an operant paradigm either independently or concurrently under ratio schedules of reinforcement. We showed that D rats displayed an enhanced motivation for both 10% ethanol solution (10E) and 4% sucrose solution (4S) as compared with ND rats, and a clear preference for 4S was observed in both groups. During acute withdrawal, D rats showed a strong motivation for 30% ethanol (30E), even when adulterated with quinine, but still preferred 4S despite the fact that a high level of negative reinforcement could be expected. However, when a premix solution (30E4S) was offered concurrently with 4S, the preference for 4S was lost in D animals, which consumed as much premix as 4S, whereas ND animals displayed preference for 4S. Altogether, those results suggest that reinforcing properties of sucrose surpass those of ethanol in D rats under acute withdrawal, which indicates that sugar is a powerful substitute for ethanol. Our results suggest that craving for sugar may be increased in AUD patients during withdrawal and raise the issue of dependence transfer from alcohol to sugar.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stéphanie Alaux‐Cantin
- INSERM UMR1247, Groupe de Recherche sur l'Alcool et les Pharmacodépendances (GRAP) Université de Picardie Jules Verne Amiens France
| | - Régis Alarcon
- Service d'Addictologie Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Caremeau Nîmes France
| | - Clément Audegond
- INSERM UMR1247, Groupe de Recherche sur l'Alcool et les Pharmacodépendances (GRAP) Université de Picardie Jules Verne Amiens France
| | - Emmanuelle Simon O'Brien
- INSERM UMR1247, Groupe de Recherche sur l'Alcool et les Pharmacodépendances (GRAP) Université de Picardie Jules Verne Amiens France
| | - Margaret P. Martinetti
- INSERM UMR1247, Groupe de Recherche sur l'Alcool et les Pharmacodépendances (GRAP) Université de Picardie Jules Verne Amiens France
- Department of Psychology The College of New Jersey Ewing New Jersey USA
| | - Serge H. Ahmed
- Institut des Maladies Neurodégénératives, UMR 5293 Université de Bordeaux Bordeaux France
| | - Bertrand Nalpas
- Service d'Addictologie Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Caremeau Nîmes France
| | - Pascal Perney
- Service d'Addictologie Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Caremeau Nîmes France
| | - Mickael Naassila
- INSERM UMR1247, Groupe de Recherche sur l'Alcool et les Pharmacodépendances (GRAP) Université de Picardie Jules Verne Amiens France
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23
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Bianchi PC, Gomes-de-Souza L, Costa-Ferreira W, Palombo P, Carneiro de Oliveira PE, Engi SA, Leão RM, Planeta CS, Crestani CC, Cruz FC. Chronic ethanol vapor exposure potentiates cardiovascular responses to acute stress in male but not in female rats. Biol Sex Differ 2021; 12:27. [PMID: 33726842 PMCID: PMC7962247 DOI: 10.1186/s13293-021-00371-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2020] [Accepted: 03/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Ethanol use is related to a wide variety of negative health outcomes, including cardiovascular diseases. Stress is also involved in numerous pathologies, such as cardiovascular diseases and psychiatric disorders. Sexual dimorphism is an important factor affecting cardiovascular response and has been proposed as a potential risk factor for sex-specific health problems in humans. Here, we evaluated the effect of prolonged ethanol vapor inhalation on arterial pressure, heart rate, and tail skin temperature responses to acute restraint stress, investigating differences between male and female rats. METHODS We exposed male and female Long-Evans rats to ethanol vapor for 14 h, followed by ethanol withdrawal for 10 h, for 30 consecutive days, or to room air (control groups). The animals underwent surgical implantation of a cannula into the femoral artery for assessment of arterial pressure and heart rate values. The tail skin temperature was measured as an indirect measurement of sympathetic vasomotor response. RESULTS Chronic ethanol vapor inhalation reduced basal heart rate in both female and male rats. Sex-related difference was observed in the decrease of tail cutaneous temperature evoked by stress, but not in the pressor and tachycardiac responses. Furthermore, prolonged ethanol inhalation enhanced the blood pressure and heart rate increase caused by acute restraint stress in male, but not in female rats. However, no effect of chronic ethanol vapor was observed in the tail cutaneous temperature response to restraint in either sex. CONCLUSION Chronic ethanol vapor exposure increased the cardiovascular reactivity to stress in male, but not in female rats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paula C. Bianchi
- Laboratory of Neuropsypharmacology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Rod. Araraquara-Jaú km 1, Araraquara, SP 14801-902 Brazil
- Joint Graduate Program in Physiological Sciences UFSCar/UNESP, Rod. Washington Luís km 235, São Carlos, SP 13565-905 Brazil
- Laboratory of Pharmacology, Paulista Medicine School, Universidade Federal de São Paulo – UNIFESP, Leal Prado Building, Botucatu 862 Street, 04024-002, Vila Clementino, São Paulo, SP Brazil
| | - Lucas Gomes-de-Souza
- Laboratory of Neuropsypharmacology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Rod. Araraquara-Jaú km 1, Araraquara, SP 14801-902 Brazil
- Joint Graduate Program in Physiological Sciences UFSCar/UNESP, Rod. Washington Luís km 235, São Carlos, SP 13565-905 Brazil
| | - Willian Costa-Ferreira
- Laboratory of Neuropsypharmacology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Rod. Araraquara-Jaú km 1, Araraquara, SP 14801-902 Brazil
- Joint Graduate Program in Physiological Sciences UFSCar/UNESP, Rod. Washington Luís km 235, São Carlos, SP 13565-905 Brazil
| | - Paola Palombo
- Laboratory of Neuropsypharmacology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Rod. Araraquara-Jaú km 1, Araraquara, SP 14801-902 Brazil
- Joint Graduate Program in Physiological Sciences UFSCar/UNESP, Rod. Washington Luís km 235, São Carlos, SP 13565-905 Brazil
| | - Paulo E. Carneiro de Oliveira
- Laboratory of Psychology, Psychology Department, Universidade Federal de São Carlos - UFSCar, Rod. Washington Luís km 235, São Carlos, SP 13565-905 Brazil
| | - Sheila A. Engi
- Laboratory of Pharmacology, Paulista Medicine School, Universidade Federal de São Paulo – UNIFESP, Leal Prado Building, Botucatu 862 Street, 04024-002, Vila Clementino, São Paulo, SP Brazil
- Joint Graduate Program in Pharmacology, Pharmacology and Molecular Biology Institute - INFAR, Três de Maio 100 Street, 04044-020, Vila Clementino, São Paulo, SP Brazil
| | - Rodrigo M. Leão
- Biomedical Sciences Institute, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais Brazil
| | - Cleopatra S. Planeta
- Laboratory of Neuropsypharmacology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Rod. Araraquara-Jaú km 1, Araraquara, SP 14801-902 Brazil
- Joint Graduate Program in Physiological Sciences UFSCar/UNESP, Rod. Washington Luís km 235, São Carlos, SP 13565-905 Brazil
| | - Carlos C. Crestani
- Laboratory of Neuropsypharmacology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Rod. Araraquara-Jaú km 1, Araraquara, SP 14801-902 Brazil
- Joint Graduate Program in Physiological Sciences UFSCar/UNESP, Rod. Washington Luís km 235, São Carlos, SP 13565-905 Brazil
| | - Fabio C. Cruz
- Laboratory of Pharmacology, Paulista Medicine School, Universidade Federal de São Paulo – UNIFESP, Leal Prado Building, Botucatu 862 Street, 04024-002, Vila Clementino, São Paulo, SP Brazil
- Joint Graduate Program in Pharmacology, Pharmacology and Molecular Biology Institute - INFAR, Três de Maio 100 Street, 04044-020, Vila Clementino, São Paulo, SP Brazil
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24
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Hansson AC, Spanagel R. No changes in the oxytocin system in alcohol-dependent female rodents and humans: Towards a sex-specific psychopharmacology in alcoholism. Addict Biol 2021; 26:e12945. [PMID: 32761675 DOI: 10.1111/adb.12945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
A pronounced decrease of oxytocin and increase of oxytocin receptor binding sites were recently reported in male alcohol dependent rats and male alcohol dependent patients. Here we comment on this and emphasize that in female alcohol dependent rats and humans no changes occur in the oxytocin system. We therefore suggest specific intervention with oxytocin only in male subjects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anita C. Hansson
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim Heidelberg University Heidelberg Germany
| | - Rainer Spanagel
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim Heidelberg University Heidelberg Germany
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25
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Echeverry‐Alzate V, Jeanblanc J, Sauton P, Bloch V, Labat L, Soichot M, Vorspan F, Naassila M. Is R(+)-Baclofen the best option for the future of Baclofen in alcohol dependence pharmacotherapy? Insights from the preclinical side. Addict Biol 2021; 26:e12892. [PMID: 32146727 DOI: 10.1111/adb.12892] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2019] [Revised: 02/14/2020] [Accepted: 02/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
For several decades, studies conducted to evaluate the efficacy of RS(±)-Baclofen in the treatment of alcohol dependence yielded contrasting results. Human and animal studies recently questioned the use of the racemic drug in patients since a potential important role of the different enantiomers has been revealed with an efficacy thought to reside with the active R(+)-enantiomer. Here we conducted experiments in the postdependent rat model of alcohol dependence to compare the efficacy of R(+)-Baclofen or S(-)-Baclofen to that of RS(±)-Baclofen on ethanol intake, seeking, and relapse. R(+)-Baclofen was more effective than RS(±)-Baclofen in reducing ethanol intake and seeking during acute withdrawal and during relapse after abstinence. We also used an original population approach in order to identify drug responders. We found a significant proportion of responders to S(-)-Baclofen and RS(±)-Baclofen, displaying an increase in ethanol intake, and this increasing effect on alcohol intake was not seen in the R(+)-Baclofen group. At an intermediate dose of R(+)-Baclofen, devoid of any motor side effects, we identified a very large proportion of responders (75%) with a large decrease in ethanol intake (90% decrease). Finally, the response to RS(±)-Baclofen on ethanol intake was correlated to plasma level of Baclofen. R(+)-Baclofen and RS(±)-Baclofen were effective in reducing sucrose intake. Our study has important clinical implication since it suggests that the wide variability in the therapeutic responses of patients to RS(±)-Baclofen may come from the sensitivity to the R(+)-Baclofen but also to the one of the S(-)-Baclofen that can promote an increase in ethanol intake.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor Echeverry‐Alzate
- INSERM UMR 1247‐Research Group on Alcohol and Pharmacodependences (GRAP) Université de Picardie Jules Verne Amiens France
- Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Málaga (IBIMA) Hospital Regional Universitario de Málaga Spain
- Department of Psychobiology & Behavioral Sciences Methods, School of Psychology Complutense University of Madrid Spain
| | - Jérôme Jeanblanc
- INSERM UMR 1247‐Research Group on Alcohol and Pharmacodependences (GRAP) Université de Picardie Jules Verne Amiens France
| | - Pierre Sauton
- INSERM UMR 1247‐Research Group on Alcohol and Pharmacodependences (GRAP) Université de Picardie Jules Verne Amiens France
| | - Vanessa Bloch
- INSERM UMR‐S 1144 Université de Paris, Optimisation Thérapeutique en Neuropsychopharmacologie Paris France
- Faculté de Médecine Université de Paris Paris France
- Département de Psychiatrie et de Médecine Addictologique, Hôpital Fernand Widal Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris Paris France
| | - Laurence Labat
- INSERM UMR‐S 1144 Université de Paris, Optimisation Thérapeutique en Neuropsychopharmacologie Paris France
- Faculté de Médecine Université de Paris Paris France
- Département de Psychiatrie et de Médecine Addictologique, Hôpital Fernand Widal Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris Paris France
| | - Marion Soichot
- Laboratoire de Toxicologie Biologique – Hôpital Lariboisière Paris France
| | - Florence Vorspan
- INSERM UMR‐S 1144 Université de Paris, Optimisation Thérapeutique en Neuropsychopharmacologie Paris France
- Faculté de Médecine Université de Paris Paris France
- Département de Psychiatrie et de Médecine Addictologique, Hôpital Fernand Widal Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris Paris France
| | - Mickael Naassila
- INSERM UMR 1247‐Research Group on Alcohol and Pharmacodependences (GRAP) Université de Picardie Jules Verne Amiens France
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26
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Qiao X, Sun M, Chen Y, Jin W, Zhao H, Zhang W, Lai J, Yan H. Ethanol-Induced Neuronal and Cognitive/Emotional Impairments are Accompanied by Down-Regulated NT3-TrkC-ERK in Hippocampus. Alcohol Alcohol 2021; 56:220-229. [PMID: 33103180 DOI: 10.1093/alcalc/agaa101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2020] [Revised: 09/15/2020] [Accepted: 09/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
AIMS Ethanol ingestion affects cognition and emotion, which have been attributed to the dysfunction of specific brain structures. Studies of alcoholic patients and animal models consistently identify reduced hippocampal mass as a key ethanol-induced brain adaptation. This study evaluated how neuroadaptation in the hippocampus (Hip) produced by ethanol contributed to related behavioral deficits in male and female rats. METHODS Effects of acute, short-term and long-term ethanol exposure on the anxiety-like behavior and recognition memory on adult male and female Sprague-Dawley rats were assessed using elevated plus maze test and novel object recognition test, respectively. In addition, in order to investigate the direct effect of ethanol on hippocampal neurons, primary culture of hippocampal neurons was exposed to ethanol (10, 30 and 90 mM; 1, 24 and 48 h), and viability (CCK-8) and morphology (immunocytochemistry) were analyzed at structural levels. Western blot assays were used to assess protein levels of NT3-TrkC-ERK. RESULTS Acute and short-term ethanol exposure exerted anxiolytic effects, whereas long-term ethanol exposure induced anxiogenic responses in both sexes. Short-term ethanol exposure impaired spatial memory only in female rats, whereas long-term ethanol exposure impaired spatial and recognition memory in both sexes. These behavioral impairments and ethanol-induced loss of hippocampal neurons and decreased cell viability were accompanied by downregulated NT3-TrkC-ERK pathway. CONCLUSION These results indicate that NT3-TrkC-ERK signaling in the Hip may play an important role in ethanol-induced structural and behavioral impairments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaomeng Qiao
- Department of Forensic Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, No.100, Science Avenue, Zhengzhou, Henan, 450001, China
| | - Mizhu Sun
- Department of Forensic Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, No.100, Science Avenue, Zhengzhou, Henan, 450001, China
| | - Yuanyuan Chen
- Department of Forensic Biology, College of Forensic Science, School of Medicine, Xi'an Jiaotong University, No.76, Yanta West Road, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710061, China
| | - Wenyang Jin
- Department of Forensic Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, No.100, Science Avenue, Zhengzhou, Henan, 450001, China
| | - Huan Zhao
- Department of Forensic Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, No.100, Science Avenue, Zhengzhou, Henan, 450001, China
| | - Weiqi Zhang
- Department of Forensic Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, No.100, Science Avenue, Zhengzhou, Henan, 450001, China
| | - Jianghua Lai
- Department of Forensic Biology, College of Forensic Science, School of Medicine, Xi'an Jiaotong University, No.76, Yanta West Road, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710061, China.,Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases, Ministry of Education, No.76, Yanta West Road, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710061, China
| | - Hongtao Yan
- Department of Forensic Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, No.100, Science Avenue, Zhengzhou, Henan, 450001, China
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27
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Somkuwar SS, Villalpando EG, Quach LW, Head BP, McKenna BS, Scadeng M, Mandyam CD. Abstinence from ethanol dependence produces concomitant cortical gray matter abnormalities, microstructural deficits and cognitive dysfunction. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 2021; 42:22-34. [PMID: 33279357 PMCID: PMC7797163 DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2020.11.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2020] [Revised: 10/12/2020] [Accepted: 11/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Previous studies demonstrate that ethanol dependence induced by repeating cycles of chronic intermittent ethanol vapor exposure (CIE) followed by protracted abstinence (CIE-PA) produces significant alterations in oligodendrogenesis in the rodent medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Specifically, CIE-PA produced an unprecedented increase in premyelinating oligodendroglial progenitor cells and myelin, which have been associated with persistent elevated drinking behaviors during abstinence. The current study used neuroimaging and electron microscopy to evaluate the integrity of enhanced myelin and microstructural deficits underlying enhanced myelination in the mPFC in male rats experiencing forced abstinence for 1 day (D), 7D, 21D and 42D following seven weeks of CIE. In vivo diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) detected altered microstructural integrity in the mPFC and corpus callosum (CC). Altered integrity was characterized as reduced fractional anisotropy (FA) in the CC, and enhanced mean diffusivity (MD) in the mPFC in 7D abstinent rats. Increased MD occurred concomitantly with increases in myelin associated proteins, flayed myelin and enhanced mitochondrial stress in the mPFC in 7D abstinent rats, suggesting that the increases in myelination during abstinence was aberrant. Evaluation of cognitive performance via Pavlovian conditioning in 7D abstinent rats revealed reduced retrieval and recall of fear memories dependent on the mPFC. These findings indicate that forced abstinence from moderate to severe alcohol use disorder produces gray matter damage via myelin dysfunction in the mPFC and that these microstructural changes were associated with deficits in PFC dependent behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Leon W Quach
- VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA 92161, USA
| | - Brian P Head
- VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA 92161, USA; Departments of Anesthesiology, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA 92161, USA
| | - Benjamin S McKenna
- Departments of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA 92161, USA
| | - Miriam Scadeng
- Departments of Radiology, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA 92161, USA
| | - Chitra D Mandyam
- VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA 92161, USA; Departments of Anesthesiology, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA 92161, USA.
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28
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Johnstone AL, Andrade NS, Barbier E, Khomtchouk BB, Rienas CA, Lowe K, Van Booven DJ, Domi E, Esanov R, Vilca S, Tapocik JD, Rodriguez K, Maryanski D, Keogh MC, Meinhardt MW, Sommer WH, Heilig M, Zeier Z, Wahlestedt C. Dysregulation of the histone demethylase KDM6B in alcohol dependence is associated with epigenetic regulation of inflammatory signaling pathways. Addict Biol 2021; 26:e12816. [PMID: 31373129 PMCID: PMC7757263 DOI: 10.1111/adb.12816] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2018] [Revised: 05/28/2019] [Accepted: 07/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Epigenetic enzymes oversee long‐term changes in gene expression by integrating genetic and environmental cues. While there are hundreds of enzymes that control histone and DNA modifications, their potential roles in substance abuse and alcohol dependence remain underexplored. A few recent studies have suggested that epigenetic processes could underlie transcriptomic and behavioral hallmarks of alcohol addiction. In the present study, we sought to identify epigenetic enzymes in the brain that are dysregulated during protracted abstinence as a consequence of chronic and intermittent alcohol exposure. Through quantitative mRNA expression analysis of over 100 epigenetic enzymes, we identified 11 that are significantly altered in alcohol‐dependent rats compared with controls. Follow‐up studies of one of these enzymes, the histone demethylase KDM6B, showed that this enzyme exhibits region‐specific dysregulation in the prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens of alcohol‐dependent rats. KDM6B was also upregulated in the human alcoholic brain. Upregulation of KDM6B protein in alcohol‐dependent rats was accompanied by a decrease of trimethylation levels at histone H3, lysine 27 (H3K27me3), consistent with the known demethylase specificity of KDM6B. Subsequent epigenetic (chromatin immunoprecipitation [ChIP]–sequencing) analysis showed that alcohol‐induced changes in H3K27me3 were significantly enriched at genes in the IL‐6 signaling pathway, consistent with the well‐characterized role of KDM6B in modulation of inflammatory responses. Knockdown of KDM6B in cultured microglial cells diminished IL‐6 induction in response to an inflammatory stimulus. Our findings implicate a novel KDM6B‐mediated epigenetic signaling pathway integrated with inflammatory signaling pathways that are known to underlie the development of alcohol addiction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea L. Johnstone
- Center for Therapeutic Innovation University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Miami Florida USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Miami Florida USA
- Division of Product Development EpiCypher, Inc Durham North Carolina USA
| | - Nadja S. Andrade
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Miami Florida USA
| | - Estelle Barbier
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Division of Cell Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences Linköping University Linköping Sweden
| | - Bohdan B. Khomtchouk
- Center for Therapeutic Innovation University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Miami Florida USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Miami Florida USA
- Department of Medicine, Section of Computational Biomedicine and Biomedical Data Science, Institute for Genomics and Systems Biology University of Chicago Chicago IL USA
| | - Christopher A. Rienas
- Center for Therapeutic Innovation University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Miami Florida USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Miami Florida USA
| | - Kenneth Lowe
- Center for Therapeutic Innovation University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Miami Florida USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Miami Florida USA
| | - Derek J. Van Booven
- John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Miami Florida USA
| | - Esi Domi
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Division of Cell Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences Linköping University Linköping Sweden
| | - Rustam Esanov
- Center for Therapeutic Innovation University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Miami Florida USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Miami Florida USA
| | - Samara Vilca
- Center for Therapeutic Innovation University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Miami Florida USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Miami Florida USA
| | - Jenica D. Tapocik
- Laboratory of Clinical and Translational Studies, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism National Institutes of Health Bethesda Maryland USA
| | - Keli Rodriguez
- Division of Product Development EpiCypher, Inc Durham North Carolina USA
| | - Danielle Maryanski
- Division of Product Development EpiCypher, Inc Durham North Carolina USA
| | | | - Marcus W. Meinhardt
- Department of Psychopharmacology Central Institute of Mental Health, Heidelberg University Mannheim Germany
| | - Wolfgang H. Sommer
- Department of Psychopharmacology Central Institute of Mental Health, Heidelberg University Mannheim Germany
| | - Markus Heilig
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Division of Cell Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences Linköping University Linköping Sweden
| | - Zane Zeier
- Center for Therapeutic Innovation University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Miami Florida USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Miami Florida USA
| | - Claes Wahlestedt
- Center for Therapeutic Innovation University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Miami Florida USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Miami Florida USA
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Smith RJ, Anderson RI, Haun HL, Mulholland PJ, Griffin WC, Lopez MF, Becker HC. Dynamic c-Fos changes in mouse brain during acute and protracted withdrawal from chronic intermittent ethanol exposure and relapse drinking. Addict Biol 2020; 25:e12804. [PMID: 31288295 PMCID: PMC7579841 DOI: 10.1111/adb.12804] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2017] [Revised: 05/31/2019] [Accepted: 06/03/2019] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Alcohol dependence promotes neuroadaptations in numerous brain areas, leading to escalated drinking and enhanced relapse vulnerability. We previously developed a mouse model of ethanol dependence and relapse drinking in which repeated cycles of chronic intermittent ethanol (CIE) vapor exposure drive a significant escalation of voluntary ethanol drinking. In the current study, we used this model to evaluate changes in neuronal activity (as indexed by c‐Fos expression) throughout acute and protracted withdrawal from CIE (combined with or without a history of ethanol drinking). We analyzed c‐Fos protein expression in 29 brain regions in mice sacrificed 2, 10, 26, and 74 hours or 7 days after withdrawal from 5 cycles of CIE. Results revealed dynamic time‐ and brain region‐dependent changes in c‐Fos activity over the time course of withdrawal from CIE exposure, as compared with nondependent air‐exposed control mice, beginning with markedly low expression levels upon removal from the ethanol vapor chambers (2 hours), reflecting intoxication. c‐Fos expression was enhanced during acute CIE withdrawal (10 and 26 hours), followed by widespread reductions at the beginning of protracted withdrawal (74 hours) in several brain areas. Persistent reductions in c‐Fos expression were observed during prolonged withdrawal (7 days) in prelimbic cortex, nucleus accumbens shell, dorsomedial striatum, paraventricular nucleus of thalamus, and ventral subiculum. A history of ethanol drinking altered acute CIE withdrawal effects and caused widespread reductions in c‐Fos that persisted during extended abstinence even without CIE exposure. These data indicate that ethanol dependence and relapse drinking drive long‐lasting neuroadaptations in several brain regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel J. Smith
- Department of Neuroscience Medical University of South Carolina Charleston SC USA
| | - Rachel I. Anderson
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Medical University of South Carolina Charleston SC USA
| | - Harold L. Haun
- Department of Neuroscience Medical University of South Carolina Charleston SC USA
| | - Patrick J. Mulholland
- Department of Neuroscience Medical University of South Carolina Charleston SC USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Medical University of South Carolina Charleston SC USA
- Charleston Alcohol Research Center Medical University of South Carolina Charleston SC USA
| | - William C. Griffin
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Medical University of South Carolina Charleston SC USA
- Charleston Alcohol Research Center Medical University of South Carolina Charleston SC USA
| | - Marcelo F. Lopez
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Medical University of South Carolina Charleston SC USA
- Charleston Alcohol Research Center Medical University of South Carolina Charleston SC USA
| | - Howard C. Becker
- Department of Neuroscience Medical University of South Carolina Charleston SC USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Medical University of South Carolina Charleston SC USA
- Charleston Alcohol Research Center Medical University of South Carolina Charleston SC USA
- Ralph H. Johnson Veteran Affairs Medical Center Medical University of South Carolina Charleston SC USA
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Neuroimaging reveals functionally distinct neuronal networks associated with high-level alcohol consumption in two genetic rat models. Behav Pharmacol 2020; 32:229-238. [PMID: 32925226 DOI: 10.1097/fbp.0000000000000582] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Human imaging data suggest that the motivational processes associated with alcohol reward are reflected in the patterns of neural activation after alcohol or alcohol-related cues. In animal models of alcohol drinking, however, the changes in brain activation during voluntary alcohol ingestion are poorly known. In order to improve the translational utility of animal models, we examined alcohol-induced functional brain activation in Alko Alcohol (AA) and Marchigian-Sardinian alcohol-preferring (msP) rats that drink voluntarily high levels of alcohol, but exhibit widely different neurochemical and behavioral traits cosegregated with alcohol preference. Brain imaging was performed using manganese-enhanced MRI (MEMRI), which is based on accumulation of Mn2+ ions in activated neurons, allowing the identification of functional neuronal networks recruited during specific behaviors in awake animals during a subsequent imaging session under anesthesia. MEMRI was performed following 4 weeks of voluntary alcohol drinking, using water drinking as the control. Despite similar levels of alcohol drinking, strikingly different alcohol-induced neuronal activity patterns were observed in AA and msP rats. Overall, functional activation in the AA rats was more widespread, involving large cortical areas and subcortical structures, such as the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, preoptic area, hypothalamus, periaqueductal grey, and substantia nigra. In the msP rats, however, alcohol-related activation was largely confined to prefrontal cortical regions and insular cortex, and olfactory areas. Overlapping areas of activation found in both rat lines included the nucleus accumbens, prelimbic, orbital, and insular cortex. In conclusion, our data reveal strikingly different brain circuits associated with alcohol drinking in two genetically different rat lines and suggest innately different motivational and behavioral processes driving alcohol drinking. These findings have important implications for the use of these lines in translational alcohol research.
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31
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Meinhardt MW, Güngör C, Skorodumov I, Mertens LJ, Spanagel R. Psilocybin and LSD have no long-lasting effects in an animal model of alcohol relapse. Neuropsychopharmacology 2020; 45:1316-1322. [PMID: 32369828 PMCID: PMC7298021 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-020-0694-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2020] [Revised: 04/21/2020] [Accepted: 04/23/2020] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
For most psychiatric disorders, including alcohol use disorder (AUD), approved pharmacological treatments are limited in their effectiveness, and new drugs that can easily be translated into the clinic are needed. Currently, great hope lies in the potential of psychedelics to effectively treat AUD. The primary hypothesis is that a single session of psychedelic-guided psychotherapy can restore normal brain function in AUD individuals and thereby reduce the risk of relapse in the long run. Here we applied three different treatment schedules with psilocybin/LSD in order to investigate relapse-like drinking in the alcohol deprivation effect (ADE) model. In contrast to the primary hypothesis, psychedelics had no long-lasting effects on the ADE in male and female rats, neither when administered in a high dosage regime that is comparable to the one used in clinical studies, nor in a chronic microdosing scheme. Only sub-chronic treatment with psilocybin produced a short-lasting anti-relapse effect. However, it is not a translatable treatment option to give psychedelics sub-chronically for relapse prevention. In conclusion, our results in the ADE model do not support the hypothesis that microdosing or high doses of psychedelic reduce relapse behavior. This conclusion has to be confirmed by applying other animal models of AUD. It could also well be that animal models of AUD might be unable to fully capture the therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs and that only future large-scale clinical trials will be able to demonstrate the efficacy of psychedelics as a new treatment option for AUD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcus W Meinhardt
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
- Department of Molecular Neuroimaging, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Cansu Güngör
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Ivan Skorodumov
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Lea J Mertens
- Department of Molecular Neuroimaging, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Rainer Spanagel
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
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Scuppa G, Tambalo S, Pfarr S, Sommer WH, Bifone A. Aberrant insular cortex connectivity in abstinent alcohol-dependent rats is reversed by dopamine D3 receptor blockade. Addict Biol 2020; 25:e12744. [PMID: 30907042 PMCID: PMC7187338 DOI: 10.1111/adb.12744] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2018] [Revised: 01/12/2019] [Accepted: 02/12/2019] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
A few studies have reported aberrant functional connectivity in alcoholic patients, but the specific neural circuits involved remain unknown. Moreover, it is unclear whether these alterations can be reversed upon treatment. Here, we used functional MRI to study resting state connectivity in rats following chronic intermittent exposure to ethanol. Further, we evaluated the effects of SB-277011-a, a selective dopamine D3 receptor antagonist, known to decrease ethanol consumption. Alcohol-dependent and control rats (N = 13/14 per group), 3 weeks into abstinence, were administered SB-277011-a or vehicle before fMRI sessions. Resting state connectivity networks were extracted by independent component analysis. A dual-regression analysis was performed using independent component maps as spatial regressors, and the effects of alcohol history and treatment on connectivity were assessed. A history of alcohol dependence caused widespread reduction of the internal coherence of components. Weaker correlation was also found between the insula cortex (IC) and cingulate cortices, key constituents of the salience network. Similarly, reduced connectivity was observed between a component comprising the anterior insular cortex, together with the caudate putamen (CPu-AntIns), and the posterior part of the IC. On the other hand, postdependent rats showed strengthened connectivity between salience and reward networks. In particular, higher connectivity was observed between insula and nucleus accumbens, between the ventral tegmental area and the cingulate cortex and between the VTA and CPu-AntIns. Interestingly, aberrant connectivity in postdependent rats was partially restored by acute administration of SB-277011-a, which, conversely, had no significant effects in naïve rats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Scuppa
- Center for Neuroscience and Cognitive SystemsIstituto Italiano di TecnologiaRoveretoItaly
| | - Stefano Tambalo
- Center for Neuroscience and Cognitive SystemsIstituto Italiano di TecnologiaRoveretoItaly
| | - Simone Pfarr
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental HealthUniversity of HeidelbergMannheimGermany
| | - Wolfgang H. Sommer
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental HealthUniversity of HeidelbergMannheimGermany
- Department of Addictive Behavior and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental HealthUniversity of HeidelbergMannheimGermany
| | - Angelo Bifone
- Center for Neuroscience and Cognitive SystemsIstituto Italiano di TecnologiaRoveretoItaly
- Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health SciencesUniversity of TorinoTorinoItaly
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Heinz A, Kiefer F, Smolka MN, Endrass T, Beste C, Beck A, Liu S, Genauck A, Romund L, Banaschewski T, Bermpohl F, Deserno L, Dolan RJ, Durstewitz D, Ebner‐Priemer U, Flor H, Hansson AC, Heim C, Hermann D, Kiebel S, Kirsch P, Kirschbaum C, Koppe G, Marxen M, Meyer‐Lindenberg A, Nagel WE, Noori HR, Pilhatsch M, Priller J, Rietschel M, Romanczuk‐Seiferth N, Schlagenhauf F, Sommer WH, Stallkamp J, Ströhle A, Stock A, Winterer G, Winter C, Walter H, Witt S, Vollstädt‐Klein S, Rapp MA, Tost H, Spanagel R. Addiction Research Consortium: Losing and regaining control over drug intake (ReCoDe)-From trajectories to mechanisms and interventions. Addict Biol 2020; 25:e12866. [PMID: 31859437 DOI: 10.1111/adb.12866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 107] [Impact Index Per Article: 26.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2019] [Revised: 10/24/2019] [Accepted: 12/04/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
One of the major risk factors for global death and disability is alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use. While there is increasing knowledge with respect to individual factors promoting the initiation and maintenance of substance use disorders (SUDs), disease trajectories involved in losing and regaining control over drug intake (ReCoDe) are still not well described. Our newly formed German Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) on ReCoDe has an interdisciplinary approach funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) with a 12-year perspective. The main goals of our research consortium are (i) to identify triggers and modifying factors that longitudinally modulate the trajectories of losing and regaining control over drug consumption in real life, (ii) to study underlying behavioral, cognitive, and neurobiological mechanisms, and (iii) to implicate mechanism-based interventions. These goals will be achieved by: (i) using mobile health (m-health) tools to longitudinally monitor the effects of triggers (drug cues, stressors, and priming doses) and modify factors (eg, age, gender, physical activity, and cognitive control) on drug consumption patterns in real-life conditions and in animal models of addiction; (ii) the identification and computational modeling of key mechanisms mediating the effects of such triggers and modifying factors on goal-directed, habitual, and compulsive aspects of behavior from human studies and animal models; and (iii) developing and testing interventions that specifically target the underlying mechanisms for regaining control over drug intake.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Heinz
- Department of Psychiatry and PsychotherapyCharité‐Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Campus Charité Mitte) Berlin Germany
| | - Falk Kiefer
- Department of Addictive Behavior and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty MannheimUniversity of Heidelberg, Mannheim Germany
| | - Michael N. Smolka
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuroimaging CentreTechnische Universität Dresden Dresden Germany
| | - Tanja Endrass
- Institute for Clinical Psychology and PsychotherapyTechnische Universität Dresden Dresden Germany
| | - Christian Beste
- Cognitive Neurophysiology, Department of Child and Adolescent PsychiatryTechnische Universität Dresden Dresden Germany
| | - Anne Beck
- Department of Psychiatry and PsychotherapyCharité‐Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Campus Charité Mitte) Berlin Germany
| | - Shuyan Liu
- Department of Psychiatry and PsychotherapyCharité‐Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Campus Charité Mitte) Berlin Germany
| | - Alexander Genauck
- Department of Psychiatry and PsychotherapyCharité‐Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Campus Charité Mitte) Berlin Germany
| | - Lydia Romund
- Department of Psychiatry and PsychotherapyCharité‐Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Campus Charité Mitte) Berlin Germany
| | - Tobias Banaschewski
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty MannheimHeidelberg University Mannheim Germany
| | - Felix Bermpohl
- Department of Psychiatry and PsychotherapyCharité‐Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Campus Charité Mitte) Berlin Germany
| | - Lorenz Deserno
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuroimaging CentreTechnische Universität Dresden Dresden Germany
- Max Planck Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research & Wellcome Centre for Human NeuroimagingUniversity College London London UK
| | - Raymond J. Dolan
- Max Planck Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research & Wellcome Centre for Human NeuroimagingUniversity College London London UK
| | - Daniel Durstewitz
- Department of Theoretical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty MannheimUniversity of Heidelberg Mannheim Germany
| | - Ulrich Ebner‐Priemer
- Department of Sports and Sports ScienceKarlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) Karlsruhe Germany
| | - Herta Flor
- Department of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty MannheimHeidelberg University Mannheim Germany
- Department of Psychology, School of Social SciencesUniversity of Mannheim Mannheim Germany
| | - Anita C. Hansson
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty MannheimHeidelberg University Mannheim Germany
| | - Christine Heim
- Institute of Medical PsychologyCharité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin Berlin Germany
- Department of Biobehavioral HealthPennsylvania State University University Park Pennsylvania
| | - Derik Hermann
- Department of Addictive Behavior and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty MannheimUniversity of Heidelberg, Mannheim Germany
- Feuerlein Center on Translational Addiction Medicine (FCTS)University of Heidelberg Heidelberg Germany
| | - Stefan Kiebel
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuroimaging CentreTechnische Universität Dresden Dresden Germany
- Department of Psychology and Neuroimaging CenterTechnische Universität Dresden Dresden Germany
| | - Peter Kirsch
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty MannheimHeidelberg University Mannheim Germany
| | - Clemens Kirschbaum
- Department of Psychology, Biological PsychologyTechnische Universität Dresden Dresden Germany
| | - Georgia Koppe
- Department of Theoretical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty MannheimUniversity of Heidelberg Mannheim Germany
| | - Michael Marxen
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuroimaging CentreTechnische Universität Dresden Dresden Germany
| | - Andreas Meyer‐Lindenberg
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty MannheimUniversity of Heidelberg Mannheim Germany
| | - Wolfgang E. Nagel
- Center for Information Services and High Performance ComputingTechnische Universität Dresden Dresden Germany
| | - Hamid R. Noori
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty MannheimHeidelberg University Mannheim Germany
- Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics Tübingen Germany
| | - Maximilian Pilhatsch
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Faculty of MedicineTechnische Universität Dresden Dresden Germany
| | - Josef Priller
- Department of Neuropsychiatry and Laboratory of Molecular PsychiatryCharité‐Universitätsmedizin Berlin Berlin Germany
- UK Dementia Research InstituteUniversity of Edinburgh Edinburgh UK
| | - Marcella Rietschel
- Department of Genetic Epidemiology in Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty MannheimHeidelberg University Mannheim Germany
| | - Nina Romanczuk‐Seiferth
- Department of Psychiatry and PsychotherapyCharité‐Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Campus Charité Mitte) Berlin Germany
| | - Florian Schlagenhauf
- Department of Psychiatry and PsychotherapyCharité‐Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Campus Charité Mitte) Berlin Germany
| | - Wolfgang H. Sommer
- Department of Addictive Behavior and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty MannheimUniversity of Heidelberg, Mannheim Germany
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty MannheimHeidelberg University Mannheim Germany
| | - Jan Stallkamp
- Project Group for Automation in Medicine and BiotechnologyFraunhofer IPA Mannheim Germany
| | - Andreas Ströhle
- Department of Psychiatry and PsychotherapyCharité‐Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Campus Charité Mitte) Berlin Germany
| | - Ann‐Kathrin Stock
- Cognitive Neurophysiology, Department of Child and Adolescent PsychiatryTechnische Universität Dresden Dresden Germany
| | - Georg Winterer
- Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC), Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care MedicineCharité‐Universitätsmedizin Berlin Berlin Germany
| | - Christine Winter
- Department of Psychiatry and PsychotherapyCharité‐Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Campus Charité Mitte) Berlin Germany
| | - Henrik Walter
- Department of Psychiatry and PsychotherapyCharité‐Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Campus Charité Mitte) Berlin Germany
| | - Stephanie Witt
- Department of Genetic Epidemiology in Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty MannheimHeidelberg University Mannheim Germany
| | - Sabine Vollstädt‐Klein
- Department of Addictive Behavior and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty MannheimUniversity of Heidelberg, Mannheim Germany
| | - Michael A. Rapp
- Social and Preventive MedicineUniversität Potsdam Potsdam Germany
| | - Heike Tost
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty MannheimUniversity of Heidelberg Mannheim Germany
| | - Rainer Spanagel
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty MannheimHeidelberg University Mannheim Germany
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Hansson AC, Gründer G, Hirth N, Noori HR, Spanagel R, Sommer WH. Dopamine and opioid systems adaptation in alcoholism revisited: Convergent evidence from positron emission tomography and postmortem studies. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2019; 106:141-164. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.09.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2018] [Revised: 09/08/2018] [Accepted: 09/14/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
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35
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Heilig M, Augier E, Pfarr S, Sommer WH. Developing neuroscience-based treatments for alcohol addiction: A matter of choice? Transl Psychiatry 2019; 9:255. [PMID: 31594920 PMCID: PMC6783461 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-019-0591-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2019] [Revised: 07/05/2019] [Accepted: 08/08/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Excessive alcohol use is the cause of an ongoing public health crisis, and accounts for ~5% of global disease burden. A minority of people with recreational alcohol use develop alcohol addiction (hereafter equated with "alcohol dependence" or simply "alcoholism"), a condition characterized by a systematically biased choice preference for alcohol at the expense of healthy rewards, and continued use despite adverse consequences ("compulsivity"). Alcoholism is arguably the most pressing area of unmet medical needs in psychiatry, with only a small fraction of patients receiving effective, evidence-based treatments. Medications currently approved for the treatment of alcoholism have small effect sizes, and their clinical uptake is negligible. No mechanistically new medications have been approved since 2004, and promising preclinical results have failed to translate into novel treatments. This has contributed to a reemerging debate whether and to what extent alcohol addiction represents a medical condition, or reflects maladaptive choices without an underlying brain pathology. Here, we review this landscape, and discuss the challenges, lessons learned, and opportunities to retool drug development in this important therapeutic area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markus Heilig
- Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linköping University, S-581 83, Linköping, Sweden.
| | - Eric Augier
- 0000 0001 2162 9922grid.5640.7Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linköping University, S-581 83 Linköping, Sweden
| | - Simone Pfarr
- 0000 0004 0477 2235grid.413757.3Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health (CIMH), J 5, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
| | - Wolfgang H. Sommer
- 0000 0004 0477 2235grid.413757.3Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health (CIMH), J 5, 68159 Mannheim, Germany ,0000 0004 0477 2235grid.413757.3Department of Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health (CIMH), J 5, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
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36
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Bosse KE, Chiu VM, Lloyd SC, Conti AC. Neonatal alcohol exposure augments voluntary ethanol intake in the absence of potentiated anxiety-like behavior induced by chronic intermittent ethanol vapor exposure. Alcohol 2019; 79:17-24. [PMID: 30385201 DOI: 10.1016/j.alcohol.2018.10.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2018] [Revised: 10/12/2018] [Accepted: 10/26/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Individuals fetally exposed to alcohol have a disproportionate risk for developing lifetime alcohol dependence, an association that may be confounded by the presence of comorbid conditions, such as anxiety. Anxiety is also observed following fetal alcohol exposure and is known to exacerbate ethanol consumption, highlighting the utility of animal models to assess this relationship. The present study evaluated the impact of third-trimester equivalent ethanol exposure on ethanol consumption and anxiety-like, marble burying behavior in adult, male C57BL/6 mice following exposure to chronic intermittent ethanol vapor, proposed to model dependence. Neonatal mice (P5-6, 2.5-3.0 g) were administered one injection of saline or ethanol (2.5 g/kg, subcutaneously [s.c.]). Pre-vapor marble burying and limited-access two-bottle choice ethanol intake (15% v/v, 2 h) were comparable in adults (8 weeks of age) across neonatal treatment groups. Five consecutive drinking sessions were repeated 72 h after each weekly ethanol vapor exposure procedure for a total of five vapor/drinking cycles. Consistent with prior research, an increase in voluntary ethanol drinking was observed in vapor-exposed, neonatal saline-treated mice throughout the study starting after the second vapor cycle compared to both air-exposed control groups. In neonatal ethanol-treated mice, this increase in ethanol intake and preference following vapor exposure was accelerated, being observed after the first vapor cycle, and observed at an augmented level compared to vapor-exposed, neonatal saline-treated mice and air controls for both neonatal conditions. Conversely, marble burying was enhanced equivalently in vapor-exposed mice from either neonatal treatment group relative to their respective air-exposed controls. These data recapitulate clinical observations of enhanced sensitivity for alcohol dependence following developmental alcohol exposure, which may reflect enhanced motivational drive rather than potentiated negative affect. The present model will facilitate the future exploration of mechanisms that underlie increased risk for alcohol use after early developmental exposure.
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Affiliation(s)
- K E Bosse
- Research & Development Service, John D. Dingell VA Medical Center, 4646 John R St., Detroit, MI, 48201, United States; Department of Neurosurgery, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 4160 John R St., Detroit, MI, 48201, United States
| | - V M Chiu
- Research & Development Service, John D. Dingell VA Medical Center, 4646 John R St., Detroit, MI, 48201, United States; Department of Neurosurgery, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 4160 John R St., Detroit, MI, 48201, United States
| | - S C Lloyd
- Research & Development Service, John D. Dingell VA Medical Center, 4646 John R St., Detroit, MI, 48201, United States; Department of Neurosurgery, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 4160 John R St., Detroit, MI, 48201, United States
| | - A C Conti
- Research & Development Service, John D. Dingell VA Medical Center, 4646 John R St., Detroit, MI, 48201, United States; Department of Neurosurgery, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 4160 John R St., Detroit, MI, 48201, United States.
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De Ternay J, Naassila M, Nourredine M, Louvet A, Bailly F, Sescousse G, Maurage P, Cottencin O, Carrieri PM, Rolland B. Therapeutic Prospects of Cannabidiol for Alcohol Use Disorder and Alcohol-Related Damages on the Liver and the Brain. Front Pharmacol 2019; 10:627. [PMID: 31214036 PMCID: PMC6554654 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2019.00627] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2019] [Accepted: 05/15/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Cannabidiol (CBD) is a natural component of cannabis that possesses a widespread and complex immunomodulatory, antioxidant, anxiolytic, and antiepileptic properties. Much experimental data suggest that CBD could be used for various purposes in alcohol use disorder (AUD) and alcohol-related damage on the brain and the liver. Aim: To provide a rationale for using CBD to treat human subjects with AUD, based on the findings of experimental studies. Methods: Narrative review of studies pertaining to the assessment of CBD efficiency on drinking reduction, or on the improvement of any aspect of alcohol-related toxicity in AUD. Results: Experimental studies find that CBD reduces the overall level of alcohol drinking in animal models of AUD by reducing ethanol intake, motivation for ethanol, relapse, anxiety, and impulsivity. Moreover, CBD reduces alcohol-related steatosis and fibrosis in the liver by reducing lipid accumulation, stimulating autophagy, modulating inflammation, reducing oxidative stress, and by inducing death of activated hepatic stellate cells. Finally, CBD reduces alcohol-related brain damage, preventing neuronal loss by its antioxidant and immunomodulatory properties. Conclusions: CBD could directly reduce alcohol drinking in subjects with AUD. Any other applications warrant human trials in this population. By reducing alcohol-related steatosis processes in the liver, and alcohol-related brain damage, CBD could improve both hepatic and neurocognitive outcomes in subjects with AUD, regardless of the individual's drinking trajectory. This might pave the way for testing new harm reduction approaches in AUD, in order to protect the organs of subjects with an ongoing AUD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia De Ternay
- Service Universitaire d’Addictologie de Lyon (SUAL), Bron, France
| | - Mickaël Naassila
- Université de Picardie Jules Verne, Centre Universitaire de Recherche en Santé, INSERM UMR 1247, Groupe de Recherche sur l’Alcool & les Pharmacodépendances, Amiens, France
| | | | - Alexandre Louvet
- Service des maladies de l’appareil digestif, CHU Lille, Universitéde Lille and INSERM U995, Lille, France
| | - François Bailly
- Service d’Addictologie et d’Hépatologie, GHN, HCL, Lyon, France
| | - Guillaume Sescousse
- Université de Lyon, UCBL, Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon (CRNL), Inserm U1028, CNRS UMR5292, PSYR2, Bron, France
| | - Pierre Maurage
- Laboratory for Experimental Psychopathology (LEP), Psychological Science Research Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Olivier Cottencin
- CHU de Lille, Université Lille, service d’addictologie, CNRS, UMR 9193, SCALab, équipe psyCHIC, Lille, France
| | - Patrizia Maria Carrieri
- INSERM, UMR_S 912, Sciences Economiques & Sociales de la Santé et Traitement de l’Information Médicale (SESSTIM), Marseille, France
| | - Benjamin Rolland
- Service Universitaire d’Addictologie de Lyon (SUAL), Bron, France
- Université de Lyon, UCBL, Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon (CRNL), Inserm U1028, CNRS UMR5292, PSYR2, Bron, France
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38
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Bianchi PC, Costa Ferreira W, Antonagi Engi S, Palombo P, Carneiro de Oliveira PE, Gomes de Souza L, Crestani CC, da Costa JL, da Silva Planeta C, Molini Leão R, Cardoso Cruz F. Prolonged Exposure to Alcohol Vapor Causes Change in Cardiovascular Function in Female but not in Male Rats. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2019; 43:1066-1076. [PMID: 30908675 DOI: 10.1111/acer.14035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2018] [Accepted: 03/14/2019] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Alcohol abuse is a health concern worldwide. Studies have associated alcohol abuse with cardiovascular impairments. In this study, we investigated differences in the effects of chronic alcohol vapor exposure on cardiovascular function between male and female rats by using the alcohol vapor chamber method to induce alcohol addiction-like behaviors in rats. METHODS We exposed male and female Long-Evans rats to alcohol vapor for 14 hours, followed by ethanol withdrawal for 10 hours, for 30 consecutive days or room air (control groups). The animals underwent preparation for the surgical implantation of cannulas into femoral vessels, for allowing the assessment of the basal arterial pressure and heart rate values, baroreflex function, and autonomic activity. RESULTS Female control rats showed higher basal heart rate compared to male control rats. Chronic alcohol vapor inhalation reduced basal heart rate in females, but not in males; this effect was followed by an increase in the parasympathetic tone of the heart. Further, female rats subjected to alcohol vapor showed an increase in the baroreflex activity. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that females are more sensitive to chronic alcohol vapor exposure than males because they had a reduction in basal heart rate and changes in the baroreflex activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paula Cristina Bianchi
- Laboratory of Neuropsypharmacology, Pharmaceutical Sciences School, Universidade Estadual Paulista-UNESP, Araraquara, SP, Brazil.,Joint Graduate Program in Physiological Sciences UFSCar/UNESP, São Carlos, SP, Brazil
| | - Willian Costa Ferreira
- Laboratory of Neuropsypharmacology, Pharmaceutical Sciences School, Universidade Estadual Paulista-UNESP, Araraquara, SP, Brazil.,Joint Graduate Program in Physiological Sciences UFSCar/UNESP, São Carlos, SP, Brazil
| | - Sheila Antonagi Engi
- Pharmacology Laboratory, Paulista Medicine School, Universidade Federal de São Paulo-UNIFESP, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.,Joint Graduate Program in Pharmacology, Pharmacology and Molecular Biology Institute-INFAR, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Paola Palombo
- Pharmacology Laboratory, Paulista Medicine School, Universidade Federal de São Paulo-UNIFESP, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.,Joint Graduate Program in Pharmacology, Pharmacology and Molecular Biology Institute-INFAR, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | | | - Lucas Gomes de Souza
- Laboratory of Neuropsypharmacology, Pharmaceutical Sciences School, Universidade Estadual Paulista-UNESP, Araraquara, SP, Brazil.,Joint Graduate Program in Physiological Sciences UFSCar/UNESP, São Carlos, SP, Brazil
| | - Carlos César Crestani
- Laboratory of Neuropsypharmacology, Pharmaceutical Sciences School, Universidade Estadual Paulista-UNESP, Araraquara, SP, Brazil.,Joint Graduate Program in Physiological Sciences UFSCar/UNESP, São Carlos, SP, Brazil
| | - José Luiz da Costa
- Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil
| | - Cleopatra da Silva Planeta
- Laboratory of Neuropsypharmacology, Pharmaceutical Sciences School, Universidade Estadual Paulista-UNESP, Araraquara, SP, Brazil.,Joint Graduate Program in Physiological Sciences UFSCar/UNESP, São Carlos, SP, Brazil
| | - Rodrigo Molini Leão
- Bioregulation Department, Health Sciences Institute, Universidade Federal da Bahia (ICS/ UFBA), Salvador, BA, Brazil
| | - Fabio Cardoso Cruz
- Pharmacology Laboratory, Paulista Medicine School, Universidade Federal de São Paulo-UNIFESP, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.,Joint Graduate Program in Pharmacology, Pharmacology and Molecular Biology Institute-INFAR, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
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Lebourgeois S, González-Marín MC, Antol J, Naassila M, Vilpoux C. Evaluation of N-acetylcysteine on ethanol self-administration in ethanol-dependent rats. Neuropharmacology 2019; 150:112-120. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2019.03.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2018] [Revised: 02/15/2019] [Accepted: 03/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
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40
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Ezquer F, Quintanilla ME, Morales P, Ezquer M, Lespay-Rebolledo C, Herrera-Marschitz M, Israel Y. Activated mesenchymal stem cell administration inhibits chronic alcohol drinking and suppresses relapse-like drinking in high-alcohol drinker rats. Addict Biol 2019; 24:17-27. [PMID: 29044813 DOI: 10.1111/adb.12572] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2017] [Revised: 09/12/2017] [Accepted: 09/14/2017] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Neuroinflammation has been reported to follow chronic ethanol intake and may perpetuate alcohol consumption. Present studies determined the effect of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs), known for their anti-inflammatory action, on chronic ethanol intake and relapse-like ethanol intake in a post-deprivation condition. Rats were allowed 12-17 weeks of chronic voluntary ethanol (10% and 20% v/v) intake, after which a single dose of activated hMSCs (5 × 105 ) was injected into a brain lateral ventricle. Control animals were administered vehicle. After assessing the effect of hMSCs on chronic ethanol intake for 1 week, animals were deprived of ethanol for 2 weeks and thereafter an ethanol re-access of 60 min was allowed to determine relapse-like intake. A single administration of activated hMSCs inhibited chronic alcohol consumption by 70% (P < 0.001), an effect seen within the first 24 hours of hMSCs administration, and reduced relapse-like drinking by 80% (P < 0.001). In the relapse-like condition, control animals attain blood ethanol ('binge-like') levels >80 mg/dl. The single hMSC administration reduced relapse-like blood ethanol levels to 20 mg/dl. Chronic ethanol intake increased by 250% (P < 0.001) the levels of reactive oxygen species in hippocampus, which were markedly reduced by hMSC administration. Astrocyte glial acidic fibrillary protein immunoreactivity, a hallmark of neuroinflammation, was increased by 60-80% (P < 0.001) by chronic ethanol intake, an effect that was fully abolished by the administration of hMSCs. This study supports the neuroinflammation-chronic ethanol intake hypothesis and suggest that mesenchymal stem cell administration may be considered in the treatment of alcohol use disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fernando Ezquer
- Centro de Medicina Regenerativa; Facultad de Medicina Clínica Alemana-Universidad del Desarrollo; Chile
| | | | - Paola Morales
- Molecular and Clinical Pharmacology Program; Institute of Biomedical Sciences; Chile
- Department of Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine; University of Chile; Chile
| | - Marcelo Ezquer
- Centro de Medicina Regenerativa; Facultad de Medicina Clínica Alemana-Universidad del Desarrollo; Chile
| | | | | | - Yedy Israel
- Molecular and Clinical Pharmacology Program; Institute of Biomedical Sciences; Chile
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41
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Abstract
In recent years, animal models in psychiatric research have been criticized for their limited translational value to the clinical situation. Failures in clinical trials have thus often been attributed to the lack of predictive power of preclinical animal models. Here, I argue that animal models of voluntary drug intake—under nonoperant and operant conditions—and addiction models based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders are crucial and informative tools for the identification of pathological mechanisms, target identification, and drug development. These models provide excellent face validity, and it is assumed that the neurochemical and neuroanatomical substrates involved in drug-intake behavior are similar in laboratory rodents and humans. Consequently, animal models of drug consumption and addiction provide predictive validity. This predictive power is best illustrated in alcohol research, in which three approved medications—acamprosate, naltrexone, and nalmefene—were developed by means of animal models and then successfully translated into the clinical situation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rainer Spanagel
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
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42
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Bujarski S, Jentsch JD, Roche DJO, Ramchandani VA, Miotto K, Ray LA. Differences in the subjective and motivational properties of alcohol across alcohol use severity: application of a novel translational human laboratory paradigm. Neuropsychopharmacology 2018; 43:1891-1899. [PMID: 29802367 PMCID: PMC6046045 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-018-0086-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2017] [Revised: 04/27/2018] [Accepted: 04/29/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The Allostatic Model proposes that Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) is associated with a transition in the motivational structure of alcohol drinking: from positive reinforcement in early-stage drinking to negative reinforcement in late-stage dependence. However, direct empirical support for this preclinical model from human experiments is limited. This study tests predictions derived from the Allostatic Model in humans. Specifically, this study tested whether alcohol use severity (1) independently predicts subjective responses to alcohol (SR; comprised of stimulation/hedonia, negative affect, sedation and craving domains), and alcohol self-administration and 2) moderates associations between domains of SR and alcohol self-administration. Heavy drinking participants ranging in severity of alcohol use and problems (N = 67) completed an intravenous alcohol administration paradigm combining an alcohol challenge (target BrAC = 60 mg%), with progressive ratio self-administration. Alcohol use severity was associated with greater baseline negative affect, sedation, and craving but did not predict changes in any SR domain during the alcohol challenge. Alcohol use severity also predicted greater self-administration. Craving during the alcohol challenge strongly predicted self-administration and sedation predicted lower self-administration. Neither stimulation, nor negative affect predicted self-administration. This study represents a novel approach to translating preclinical neuroscientific theories to the human laboratory. As expected, craving predicted self-administration and sedation was protective. Contrary to the predictions of the Allostatic Model, however, these results were inconsistent with a transition from positively to negatively reinforced alcohol consumption in severe AUD. Future studies that assess negative reinforcement in the context of an acute stressor are warranted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Spencer Bujarski
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
| | - J. David Jentsch
- 0000 0001 2164 4508grid.264260.4Department of Psychology, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY USA
| | - Daniel J. O. Roche
- 0000 0000 9632 6718grid.19006.3eDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA USA
| | - Vijay A. Ramchandani
- 0000 0001 2297 5165grid.94365.3dSection on Human Psychopharmacology, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD USA
| | - Karen Miotto
- 0000 0000 9632 6718grid.19006.3eDepartment of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA USA
| | - Lara A. Ray
- 0000 0000 9632 6718grid.19006.3eDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA USA ,0000 0000 9632 6718grid.19006.3eDepartment of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA USA
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43
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Domi E, Barbier E, Augier E, Augier G, Gehlert D, Barchiesi R, Thorsell A, Holm L, Heilig M. Preclinical evaluation of the kappa-opioid receptor antagonist CERC-501 as a candidate therapeutic for alcohol use disorders. Neuropsychopharmacology 2018; 43:1805-1812. [PMID: 29463912 PMCID: PMC6046052 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-018-0015-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2017] [Revised: 12/22/2017] [Accepted: 01/09/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Prior work suggests a role of kappa-opioid signaling in the control of alcohol drinking, in particular when drinking is escalated due to alcohol-induced long-term neuroadaptations. Here, we examined the small molecule selective kappa antagonist CERC-501 in rat models of alcohol-related behaviors, with the objective to evaluate its potential as a candidate therapeutic for alcohol use disorders. We first tested the effect of CERC-501 on acute alcohol withdrawal-induced anxiety-like behavior. CERC-501 was then tested on basal as well as escalated alcohol self-administration induced by 20% alcohol intermittent access. Finally, we determined the effects of CERC-501 on relapse to alcohol seeking triggered by both stress and alcohol-associated cues. Control experiments were performed to confirm the specificity of CERC-501 effects on alcohol-related behaviors. CERC-501 reversed anxiety-like behavior induced by alcohol withdrawal. It did not affect basal alcohol self-administration but did dose-dependently suppress self-administration that had escalated following long-term intermittent access to alcohol. CERC-501 blocked relapse to alcohol seeking induced by stress, but not when relapse-like behavior was triggered by alcohol-associated cues. The effects of CERC-501 were observed in the absence of sedative side effects and were not due to effects on alcohol metabolism. Thus, in a broad battery of preclinical alcohol models, CERC-501 has an activity profile characteristic of anti-stress compounds. Combined with its demonstrated preclinical and clinical safety profile, these data support clinical development of CERC-501 for alcohol use disorders, in particular for patients with negatively reinforced, stress-driven alcohol seeking and use.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Domi
- 0000 0001 2162 9922grid.5640.7Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - E Barbier
- 0000 0001 2162 9922grid.5640.7Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - E Augier
- 0000 0001 2162 9922grid.5640.7Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - G Augier
- 0000 0001 2162 9922grid.5640.7Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - D Gehlert
- grid.504315.6Cerecor, Baltimore, MD (DG) and Matrix Pharmaceutical Consulting, Boulder, CO, United States
| | - R Barchiesi
- 0000 0001 2162 9922grid.5640.7Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - A Thorsell
- 0000 0001 2162 9922grid.5640.7Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - L Holm
- 0000 0001 2162 9922grid.5640.7Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - M Heilig
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
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Diaz-Parra A, Perez-Ramirez U, Pacheco-Torres J, Pfarr S, Sommer WH, Moratal D, Canals S. Evaluating network brain connectivity in alcohol postdependent state using Network-Based Statistic. ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE IEEE ENGINEERING IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY SOCIETY. IEEE ENGINEERING IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY SOCIETY. ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 2018; 2017:533-536. [PMID: 29059927 DOI: 10.1109/embc.2017.8036879] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
The use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure spontaneous fluctuations in blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signals has become an indispensable tool to investigate how brain regions interact and form long-range networks. Statistical dependency measures between brain regions obtained from BOLD signals can inform about brain functional states in longitudinal studies of neurological and psychiatric disorders. Furthermore, its non-invasive nature allows comparable measurements in clinical and animal studies, providing excellent translational capabilities. In the present study, we apply Network-Based Statistic (NBS) to investigate alterations in the functional connectivity (FC) of the rat brain in a post-dependent (PD) state, an established animal model of clinical relevant features in alcoholism. In contrast to mass-univariate tests, in which comparisons are performed at single link-level, NBS enhances the statistical power by assuming that the connections comprising the effect of interest are interconnected. Brain-wide resting-state fMRI signals were collected in 14 controls and 13 PD rats, and Pearson correlations computed between 47 brain regions of interest (ROIs). The NBS analysis revealed statistically significant differences in a connected network of structures including hippocampus, amygdala, lateral hypothalamus and the raphe nucleus, all regions with known relevance for addictive behaviors. In contrast, no individual connection could be found significant by univariate comparisons with false discovery rate (FDR) correction. Correlations between the structures in the identified subnetwork tend to decrease or become negative (anti-correlated) in the PD state compared to controls. We interpret this result as evidence for a disconnected subnetwork in the PD state.
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45
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Broccoli L, Uhrig S, von Jonquieres G, Schönig K, Bartsch D, Justice NJ, Spanagel R, Sommer W, Klugmann M, Hansson A. Targeted overexpression of CRH receptor subtype 1 in central amygdala neurons: effect on alcohol-seeking behavior. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2018; 235:1821-1833. [PMID: 29700576 PMCID: PMC7454014 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-018-4908-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2017] [Accepted: 04/12/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE The corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) system is a key mediator of stress-induced responses in alcohol-seeking behavior. Recent research has identified the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA), a brain region involved in the regulation of fear and stress-induced responses that is especially rich in CRH-positive neurons, as a key player in mediating excessive alcohol seeking. However, detailed characterization of the specific influences that local neuronal populations exert in mediating alcohol responses is hampered by current limitations in pharmacological and immunohistochemical tools for targeting CRH receptor subtype 1 (CRHR1). OBJECTIVE In this study, we investigated the effect of cell- and region-specific overexpression of CRHR1 in the CeA using a novel transgenic tool. METHODS Co-expression of CRHR1 in calcium-calmodulin-dependent kinase II (αCaMKII) neurons of the amygdala was demonstrated by double immunohistochemistry using a Crhr1-GFP reporter mouse line. A Cre-inducible Crhr1-expressing adeno-associated virus (AAV) was site-specifically injected into the CeA of αCaMKII-CreERT2 transgenic rats to analyze the role of CRHR1 in αCaMKII neurons on alcohol self-administration and reinstatement behavior. RESULTS Forty-eight percent of CRHR1-containing cells showed co-expression of αCaMKII in the CeA. AAV-mediated gene transfer in αCaMKII neurons induced a 24-fold increase of Crhr1 mRNA in the CeA which had no effect on locomotor activity, alcohol self-administration, or cue-induced reinstatement. However, rats overexpressing Crhr1 in the CeA increased responding in the stress-induced reinstatement task with yohimbine serving as a pharmacological stressor. CONCLUSION We demonstrate that CRHR1 overexpression in CeA-αCaMKII neurons is sufficient to mediate increased vulnerability to stress-triggered relapse into alcohol seeking.
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Affiliation(s)
- L. Broccoli
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, J5, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
| | - S. Uhrig
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, J5, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
| | - G. von Jonquieres
- Translational Neuroscience Facility and Department of Physiology, School of Medical Sciences, UNSW Australia Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - K. Schönig
- Dept. of Molecular Biology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Square J5, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
| | - D. Bartsch
- Dept. of Molecular Biology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Square J5, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
| | - N. J. Justice
- Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas Health Sciences Center, Houston, Texas 77030, USA
| | - R. Spanagel
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, J5, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
| | - W.H. Sommer
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, J5, 68159 Mannheim, Germany,Department of Addictive Behavior and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, J5, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
| | - M. Klugmann
- Translational Neuroscience Facility and Department of Physiology, School of Medical Sciences, UNSW Australia Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - A.C. Hansson
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, J5, 68159 Mannheim, Germany,To whom correspondence should be addressed: Anita C. Hansson, PhD, Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute for Mental Health, University of Heidelberg, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Square J5, D-68159 Mannheim, Germany, Phone: +49 621 1703 6293, Fax: +49 621 1703 6255,
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46
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A relationship between the aldosterone-mineralocorticoid receptor pathway and alcohol drinking: preliminary translational findings across rats, monkeys and humans. Mol Psychiatry 2018; 23:1466-1473. [PMID: 28461696 PMCID: PMC5668213 DOI: 10.1038/mp.2017.97] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2016] [Revised: 02/15/2017] [Accepted: 03/16/2017] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Aldosterone regulates electrolyte and fluid homeostasis through binding to the mineralocorticoid receptors (MRs). Previous work provides evidence for a role of aldosterone in alcohol use disorders (AUDs). We tested the hypothesis that high functional activity of the mineralocorticoid endocrine pathway contributes to vulnerability for AUDs. In Study 1, we investigated the relationship between plasma aldosterone levels, ethanol self-administration and the expression of CYP11B2 and MR (NR3C2) genes in the prefrontal cortex area (PFC) and central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) in monkeys. Aldosterone significantly increased after 6- and 12-month ethanol self-administration. NR3C2 expression in the CeA was negatively correlated to average ethanol intake during the 12 months. In Study 2, we measured Nr3c2 mRNA levels in the PFC and CeA of dependent and nondependent rats and the correlates with ethanol drinking during acute withdrawal. Low Nr3c2 expression levels in the CeA were significantly associated with increased anxiety-like behavior and compulsive-like drinking in dependent rats. In Study 3, the relationship between plasma aldosterone levels, alcohol drinking and craving was investigated in alcohol-dependent patients. Non-abstinent patients had significantly higher aldosterone levels than abstinent patients. Aldosterone levels positively correlated with the number of drinks consumed, craving and anxiety scores. These findings support a relationship between ethanol drinking and the aldosterone/MR pathway in three different species.
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Ch’Ng SS, Lawrence AJ. Investigational drugs for alcohol use disorders: a review of preclinical data. Expert Opin Investig Drugs 2018; 27:459-474. [DOI: 10.1080/13543784.2018.1472763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sarah S Ch’Ng
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Andrew J Lawrence
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, VIC, Australia
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48
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Oxytocin Reduces Alcohol Cue-Reactivity in Alcohol-Dependent Rats and Humans. Neuropsychopharmacology 2018; 43:1235-1246. [PMID: 29090683 PMCID: PMC5916348 DOI: 10.1038/npp.2017.257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2017] [Revised: 10/08/2017] [Accepted: 10/24/2017] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Approved pharmacological treatments for alcohol use disorder are limited in their effectiveness, and new drugs that can easily be translated into the clinic are warranted. One of those candidates is oxytocin because of its interaction with several alcohol-induced effects. Alcohol-dependent rats as well as post-mortem brains of human alcoholics and controls were analyzed for the expression of the oxytocin system by qRT-PCR, in situ hybridization, receptor autoradiography ([125I]OVTA binding), and immunohistochemistry. Alcohol self-administration and cue-induced reinstatement behavior was measured after intracerebroventricular injection of 10 nM oxytocin in dependent rats. Here we show a pronounced upregulation of oxytocin receptors in brain tissues of alcohol-dependent rats and deceased alcoholics, primarily in frontal and striatal areas. This upregulation stems most likely from reduced oxytocin expression in hypothalamic nuclei. Pharmacological validation showed that oxytocin reduced cue-induced reinstatement response in dependent rats-an effect that was not observed in non-dependent rats. Finally, a clinical pilot study (German clinical trial number DRKS00009253) using functional magnetic resonance imaging in heavy social male drinkers showed that intranasal oxytocin (24 IU) decreased neural cue-reactivity in brain networks similar to those detected in dependent rats and humans with increased oxytocin receptor expression. These studies suggest that oxytocin might be used as an anticraving medication and thus may positively affect treatment outcomes in alcoholics.
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49
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Abstract
Animal models provide rapid, inexpensive assessments of an investigational drug's therapeutic potential. Ideally, they support the plausibility of therapeutic efficacy and provide a rationale for further investigation. Here, I discuss how the absence of clear effective-ineffective categories for alcohol use disorder (AUD) medications and biases in the clinical and preclinical literature affect the development of predictive preclinical alcohol dependence (AD) models. Invoking the analogical argument concept from the philosophy of science field, I discuss how models of excessive alcohol drinking support the plausibility of clinical pharmacotherapy effects. Even though these models are not likely be completely discriminative, they are sensitive to clinically effective medications and have revealed dozens of novel medication targets. In that context, I discuss recent preclinical work on GLP-1 receptor agonists, phosphodiesterase inhibitors, glucocorticoid receptor antagonists, nociception agonists and antagonists, and CRF1 antagonists. Clinically approved medications are available for each of these drug classes. I conclude by advocating a translational approach in which drugs are evaluated highly congruent preclinical models and human laboratory studies. Once translation is established, I suggest the burden is to develop hypothesis-based therapeutic interventions maximizing the impact of the confirmed pharmacotherapeutic effects in the context of additional variables falling outside the model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark Egli
- Division of Neuroscience and Behavior, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
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50
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Dependence-induced increase of alcohol self-administration and compulsive drinking mediated by the histone methyltransferase PRDM2. Mol Psychiatry 2017; 22:1746-1758. [PMID: 27573876 PMCID: PMC5677579 DOI: 10.1038/mp.2016.131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2015] [Revised: 05/20/2016] [Accepted: 06/01/2016] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Epigenetic processes have been implicated in the pathophysiology of alcohol dependence, but the specific molecular mechanisms mediating dependence-induced neuroadaptations remain largely unknown. Here, we found that a history of alcohol dependence persistently decreased the expression of Prdm2, a histone methyltransferase that monomethylates histone 3 at the lysine 9 residue (H3K9me1), in the rat dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC). Downregulation of Prdm2 was associated with decreased H3K9me1, supporting that changes in Prdm2 mRNA levels affected its activity. Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by massively parallel DNA sequencing showed that genes involved in synaptic communication are epigenetically regulated by H3K9me1 in dependent rats. In non-dependent rats, viral-vector-mediated knockdown of Prdm2 in the dmPFC resulted in expression changes similar to those observed following a history of alcohol dependence. Prdm2 knockdown resulted in increased alcohol self-administration, increased aversion-resistant alcohol intake and enhanced stress-induced relapse to alcohol seeking, a phenocopy of postdependent rats. Collectively, these results identify a novel epigenetic mechanism that contributes to the development of alcohol-seeking behavior following a history of dependence.
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