[Alteration of neuronal activities following repeated administration of stimulants]

It has been well-known that abuse of psychostimulants such as amphetamine and methamphetamine (MAP) induces behavioral sensitization (reverse tolerance) to MAP, resulting in psychotic effects such as hallucinatory-delusional state. Animals treated with MAP repeatedly also show the behavioral sensitization to MAP. This paper focuses on the pathogenesis and mechanism underlying sensitization to MAP after repeated treatment with MAP. MAP is known to release dopamine (DA), noradrenalin (NA) and serotonin (5-HT), and bind with the same sites on DA-, NA- and 5-HT-transporters as do these monoamines, thereby inhibiting re-uptake of these substances. As a result, these monoamines accumulate in the synaptic areas unnerved by the monoamine systems. An increase in the monoamines also occurs in the dendritic areas of DA, NA and 5-HT cells probably by a mechanism similar to those in the presynaptic terminals of monoamines. Releases and syntheses of DA, NA and 5-HT are inhibited by the monoamine per se via their autoreceptors such as D2, alpha 2 and 5-HT1A receptors, respectively. It is noteworthy that repeated MAP treatment results in the reduction of DA transporters, and such a decrease in transporters has been also found in MAP abusers by PET studies, suggesting a decrease in DA transporters is related with the appearance of reverse tolerance. Repeated MAP administration induces immediate early gene such as c-fos, c-jun and arc, and the increase in arc is inhibited by D1 and NMDA antagonists, suggesting an important role of such genes in inducing reverse tolerance. In electrophysiological studies using anesthetized rats treated with MAP repeatedly, hyposensitivities and hypersensitivities to DA and MAP have been found in nucleus accumbens receiving dopaminergic input from ventral tegmental area, 24-30 h and 5 days after the final administration of MAP, respectively, although the sensitivities recovered to the normal level 10 days after the treatment. The hypersensitivities were probably mediated via D1/D2 receptors. Thus, the hypersensitivities of nucleus accumbens neurons to DA and MAP are actually completed after repeated treatment of MAP. Therefore, it is of great interest to elucidate the molecular mechanism responsible for the DA receptor hypersensitivity.