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Salazar AL, Centanni SW. Sex Differences in Mouse Models of Voluntary Alcohol Drinking and Abstinence-Induced Negative Emotion. Alcohol 2024:S0741-8329(24)00098-3. [PMID: 39053705 DOI: 10.1016/j.alcohol.2024.07.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2024] [Revised: 07/03/2024] [Accepted: 07/16/2024] [Indexed: 07/27/2024]
Abstract
Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) is a growing problem worldwide, causing an incredible burden on health and the economy. Though AUD impacts people of all backgrounds and demographics, increasing evidence has suggested robust sex differences in alcohol drinking patterns and AUD-induced negative emotionality or hyperkatifeia. Rates of problematic drinking have significantly risen among women, and women face more severe negative emotional consequences in abstinence such as increased risk of comorbidity with an anxiety or mood disorder and more severe symptoms of depression. As such, a bevy of preclinical literature using contingent methods of alcohol (ethanol) consumption has amassed in recent years to better understand sex as a biological variable in alcohol drinking and abstinence-induced negative emotionality. Mice are widely used to model alcohol drinking, as they are conducive to genetic manipulation strategies, and many strains will voluntarily consume alcohol. Sex-specific results from these mouse studies, however, have been inconsistent. Therefore, this review aims to summarize the current knowledge on sex differences in AUD-related contingent ethanol drinking and abstinence-induced negative emotionality in mice. Various contingent mouse drinking models and negative emotional-based behavioral paradigms are introduced and subsequently discussed in the context of sex differences to show increasing indications of sex specificity in mouse preclinical studies of AUD. With this review, we hope to inform future research on potential sex differences in preclinical mouse models of AUD and provide mounting evidence supporting the need for more widespread inclusion of preclinical female subjects in future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda L Salazar
- Department of Translational Neuroscience, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27101, USA
| | - Samuel W Centanni
- Department of Translational Neuroscience, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27101, USA.
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Robbins TW, Banca P, Belin D. From compulsivity to compulsion: the neural basis of compulsive disorders. Nat Rev Neurosci 2024; 25:313-333. [PMID: 38594324 DOI: 10.1038/s41583-024-00807-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/04/2024] [Indexed: 04/11/2024]
Abstract
Compulsive behaviour, an apparently irrational perseveration in often maladaptive acts, is a potential transdiagnostic symptom of several neuropsychiatric disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorder and addiction, and may reflect the severe manifestation of a dimensional trait termed compulsivity. In this Review, we examine the psychological basis of compulsions and compulsivity and their underlying neural circuitry using evidence from human neuroimaging and animal models. Several main elements of this circuitry are identified, focused on fronto-striatal systems implicated in goal-directed behaviour and habits. These systems include the orbitofrontal, prefrontal, anterior cingulate and insular cortices and their connections with the basal ganglia as well as sensoriomotor and parietal cortices and cerebellum. We also consider the implications for future classification of impulsive-compulsive disorders and their treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Trevor W Robbins
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
| | - Paula Banca
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - David Belin
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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MacDonald M, Fonseca PAS, Johnson K, Murray EM, Kember RL, Kranzler H, Mayfield D, da Silva D. Divergent gene expression patterns in alcohol and opioid use disorders lead to consistent alterations in functional networks within the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.04.29.591734. [PMID: 38746311 PMCID: PMC11092658 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.29.591734] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) manifest as persistent drug-seeking behavior despite adverse consequences, with Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) and Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) representing prevalent forms associated with significant mortality rates and economic burdens. The co-occurrence of AUD and OUD is common, necessitating a deeper comprehension of their intricate interactions. While the causal link between these disorders remains elusive, shared genetic factors are hypothesized. Leveraging public datasets, we employed genomic and transcriptomic analyses to explore conserved and distinct molecular pathways within the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex associated with AUD and OUD. Our findings unveil modest transcriptomic overlap at the gene level between the two disorders but substantial convergence on shared biological pathways. Notably, these pathways predominantly involve inflammatory processes, synaptic plasticity, and key intracellular signaling regulators. Integration of transcriptomic data with the latest genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for problematic alcohol use (PAU) and OUD not only corroborated our transcriptomic findings but also confirmed the limited shared heritability between the disorders. Overall, our study indicates that while alcohol and opioids induce diverse transcriptional alterations at the gene level, they converge on select biological pathways, offering promising avenues for novel therapeutic targets aimed at addressing both disorders simultaneously.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martha MacDonald
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY
| | - Pablo A. S. Fonseca
- Dpto. Producción Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de León. Campus de Vegazana s/n, 24007 Leon, Spain
| | - Kory Johnson
- Bioinformatics Section, Intramural Information Technology & Bioinformatics Program, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
| | - Erin M Murray
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester NY
| | - Rachel L Kember
- Center for Studies of Addiction, University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine and Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, Crescenz VAMC, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Henry Kranzler
- Center for Studies of Addiction, University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine and Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, Crescenz VAMC, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Dayne Mayfield
- Department of Neuroscience Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
| | - Daniel da Silva
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY
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Taxier LR, Flanigan ME, Haun HL, Kash TL. Retrieval of an ethanol-conditioned taste aversion promotes GABAergic plasticity in the insular cortex. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.03.20.585950. [PMID: 38562680 PMCID: PMC10983921 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.20.585950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
Blunted sensitivity to ethanol's aversive effects can increase motivation to consume ethanol; yet, the neurobiological circuits responsible for encoding these aversive properties are not fully understood. Plasticity in cells projecting from the insular cortex (IC) to the basolateral amygdala (BLA) is critical for taste aversion learning and retrieval, suggesting this circuit's potential involvement in modulating the aversive properties of ethanol. Here, we tested the hypothesis that GABAergic activity onto IC-BLA projections would be facilitated following the retrieval of an ethanol-conditioned taste aversion (CTA). Consistent with this hypothesis, frequency of mIPSCs was increased following retrieval of an ethanol-CTA across cell layers in IC-BLA projection neurons. This increase in GABAergic plasticity occurred in both a circuit-specific and learning-dependent manner. Additionally, local inhibitory inputs onto layer 2/3 IC-BLA projection neurons were greater in number and strength following ethanol-CTA. Finally, DREADD-mediated inhibition of IC parvalbumin-expressing cells blunted the retrieval of ethanol-CTA in male, but not female, mice. Collectively, this work implicates a circuit-specific and learning-dependent increase in GABAergic tone following retrieval of an ethanol-CTA, thereby advancing our understanding of how the aversive effects of ethanol are encoded in the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa R Taxier
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA, 27599
| | - Meghan E Flanigan
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA, 27599
| | - Harold L Haun
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA, 27599
| | - Thomas L Kash
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA, 27599
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Starski P, Morningstar MD, Katner SN, Frasier RM, De Oliveira Sergio T, Wean S, Lapish CC, Hopf FW. Neural Activity in the Anterior Insula at Drinking Onset and Licking Relates to Compulsion-Like Alcohol Consumption. J Neurosci 2024; 44:e1490232023. [PMID: 38242696 PMCID: PMC10904088 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1490-23.2023] [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: 08/07/2023] [Revised: 11/20/2023] [Accepted: 12/10/2023] [Indexed: 01/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Much remains unknown about the etiology of compulsion-like alcohol drinking, where consumption persists despite adverse consequences. The role of the anterior insula (AIC) in emotion, motivation, and interoception makes this brain region a likely candidate to drive challenge-resistant behavior, including compulsive drinking. Indeed, subcortical projections from the AIC promote compulsion-like intake in rats and are recruited in heavy-drinking humans during compulsion for alcohol, highlighting the importance of and need for more information about AIC activity patterns that support aversion-resistant responding. Single-unit activity was recorded in the AIC from 15 male rats during alcohol-only and compulsion-like consumption. We found three sustained firing phenotypes, sustained-increase, sustained-decrease, and drinking-onset cells, as well as several firing patterns synchronized with licking. While many AIC neurons had session-long activity changes, only neurons with firing increases at drinking onset had greater activity under compulsion-like conditions. Further, only cells with persistent firing increases maintained activity during pauses in licking, suggesting roles in maintaining drive for alcohol during breaks. AIC firing was not elevated during saccharin drinking, similar to lack of effect of AIC inhibition on sweet fluid intake in many studies. In addition, we observed subsecond changes in AIC neural activity tightly entrained to licking. One lick-synched firing pattern (determined for all licks in a session) predicted compulsion-like drinking, while a separate lick-associated pattern correlated with greater consumption across alcohol intake conditions. Collectively, these data provide a more integrated model for the role of AIC firing in compulsion-like drinking, with important relevance for how the AIC promotes sustained motivated responding more generally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Phillip Starski
- Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis 46202, Indiana
| | - Mitch D Morningstar
- Department of Psychology, IU-Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis 46202, Indiana
| | - Simon N Katner
- Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis 46202, Indiana
| | - Raizel M Frasier
- Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis 46202, Indiana
| | | | - Sarah Wean
- Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis 46202, Indiana
| | - Christopher C Lapish
- Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology, and Physiology, IU School of Medicine, Indianapolis 46202, Indiana
- Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Indianapolis 46202, Indiana
| | - F Woodward Hopf
- Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis 46202, Indiana
- Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Indianapolis 46202, Indiana
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Sanchez B, Kraszewski P, Lee S, Cope EC. From molecules to behavior: Implications for perineuronal net remodeling in learning and memory. J Neurochem 2023. [PMID: 38158878 DOI: 10.1111/jnc.16036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2023] [Revised: 11/30/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 01/03/2024]
Abstract
Perineuronal nets (PNNs) are condensed extracellular matrix (ECM) structures found throughout the central nervous system that regulate plasticity. They consist of a heterogeneous mix of ECM components that form lattice-like structures enwrapping the cell body and proximal dendrites of particular neurons. During development, accumulating research has shown that the closure of various critical periods of plasticity is strongly linked to experience-driven PNN formation and maturation. PNNs provide an interface for synaptic contacts within the holes of the structure, generally promoting synaptic stabilization and restricting the formation of new synaptic connections in the adult brain. In this way, they impact both synaptic structure and function, ultimately influencing higher cognitive processes. PNNs are highly plastic structures, changing their composition and distribution throughout life and in response to various experiences and memory disorders, thus serving as a substrate for experience- and disease-dependent cognitive function. In this review, we delve into the proposed mechanisms by which PNNs shape plasticity and memory function, highlighting the potential impact of their structural components, overall architecture, and dynamic remodeling on functional outcomes in health and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brenda Sanchez
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Virginia, USA
| | - Piotr Kraszewski
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Virginia, USA
| | - Sabrina Lee
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Virginia, USA
| | - Elise C Cope
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Virginia, USA
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Arnold ME, Decker Ramirez EB, Beugelsdyk LA, Siano Kuzolitz MV, Jiang Q, Schank JR. Estradiol mediates sex differences in aversion-resistant alcohol intake. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1282230. [PMID: 38027489 PMCID: PMC10651753 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1282230] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2023] [Accepted: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Alcohol consumption despite negative consequences is a core symptom of alcohol use disorder. This can be modeled in mice by pairing aversive stimuli with alcohol consumption, such as adding the bitter tastant quinine to the alcohol solution. If an animal continues to drink alcohol despite such negative stimuli, this is typically considered aversion-resistant, or inflexible, drinking behavior. Previous studies in our lab have found that females are more aversion-resistant than males in that they tolerate higher concentrations of quinine before they suppress their alcohol intake. Interestingly, we did not observe any differences in intake across the estrous cycle. In regards to neuronal activation patterns during quinine-alcohol intake, we have found that male mice show higher levels of activation in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and posterior insular cortex, while females show higher levels of activation in the ventral tegmental area. Methods In the experiments presented here, we conducted ovariectomies to further examine the role of circulating sex hormones in aversion-resistant alcohol intake and neuronal activation patterns. Furthermore, we used hormonal addback of estradiol or progesterone to determine which ovarian sex hormone mediates aversion-resistant consumption. Results We found that ovariectomy reduced quinine-adulterated alcohol intake, demonstrating that circulating sex hormones play a role in this behavior. We also observed reduced neuronal activation in the VTA of ovariectomized mice compared to sham females, and that estradiol supplementation reversed the effect of ovariectomy on quinine-alcohol intake. Discussion Taken together with our prior data, these findings suggest that circulating estradiol contributes to the expression of aversion-resistant alcohol intake and neuronal activity in the VTA. However, since this behavior is not affected by the estrous cycle, we believe this is due to a threshold level of this hormone, as opposed to fluctuations that occur across the estrous cycle.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Jesse R. Schank
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
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Arnold ME, Schank JR. Aversion-associated drug and alcohol seeking in females. Front Neuroendocrinol 2023; 71:101095. [PMID: 37558185 DOI: 10.1016/j.yfrne.2023.101095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2023] [Revised: 07/27/2023] [Accepted: 08/06/2023] [Indexed: 08/11/2023]
Abstract
Compulsive drug intake is characterized by the continuation of use regardless of negative consequences. This is modeled preclinically using procedures where a negative stimulus is delivered contingently with consumption of the reinforcer. In humans, women and men exhibit different drug taking behavior as it pertains to overall use, withdrawal symptoms, and rate of dependence. In substance use research, females have often been excluded from many studies due to concerns that circulating sex hormones may affect drug seeking behavior. However, the more recent inclusion of females in preclinical studies has identified interesting sex differences in aversion-resistant intake of drugs and alcohol. This review will serve to summarize key findings in aversion-related intake of alcohol, psychostimulants, and opioids in females by examining studies that have included female subjects. Further discussion will examine the effect of intake model, neuroanatomical pathways, and sex hormones in the expression of aversion-resistant drug and alcohol consumption.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miranda E Arnold
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Jesse R Schank
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
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