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A Protocol for Measuring Cue Reactivity in a Rat Model of Cocaine Use Disorder

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Reciprocal Catecholamine Changes during Opiate Exposure and Withdrawal.

Megan E Fox¹, Nathan T Rodeberg¹, R Mark Wightman¹

¹Department of Chemistry and Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.

Neuropsychopharmacology : Official Publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology

|July 28, 2016

Summary

A single morphine exposure and withdrawal alters brain catecholamine signaling. Dopamine release decreases during withdrawal, while norepinephrine is released, suggesting roles in addiction development.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Pharmacology
Addiction Research

Background:

Dysregulated catecholamine signaling is central to drug abuse.
Adaptations to chronic drug use are well-studied, but acute effects are less understood.
Investigating single drug exposure and withdrawal on in vivo signaling is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate real-time catecholamine signaling changes in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and ventral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (vBNST) after acute morphine exposure and withdrawal.
To correlate catecholamine release with specific withdrawal behaviors.
To explore the roles of dopamine and norepinephrine in the initial stages of drug addiction.

Main Methods:

Fast-scan cyclic voltammetry in freely moving rats.
Measurement of dopamine transients in the NAc and norepinephrine changes in the vBNST.
Administration of morphine, naloxone, and α2 antagonist to precipitate withdrawal and assess signaling.

Main Results:

Acute morphine increased dopamine transients in the NAc but not norepinephrine in the vBNST.
Withdrawal significantly decreased dopamine output and induced norepinephrine release in the vBNST, correlating with specific symptoms.
Norepinephrine release and withdrawal symptoms were triggered by naloxone and an α2 antagonist, independent of morphine.

Conclusions:

Dopamine and norepinephrine signaling play distinct, reciprocal roles during drug exposure and withdrawal.
These findings support the allostasis model of addiction.
Negative reinforcement mechanisms may initiate after a single exposure/withdrawal cycle.