Neurobiology Of Relapse To Opiate and Psychostimulant Drugs

National Institute On Drug Abuse

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Abstract

High rates of relapse to drug use after prolonged drug-free periods characterize the behavior of people addicted to opioid and psychostimulant drugs. The behavioral and neurochemical events that contribute to these high relapse rates, however, are not well understood. Relapse can be induced in human subjects and laboratory animals by re-exposure to the drug previously used or re-exposure to environmental cues paired with drug self-administration. We are using different animal models of relapse to study brain systems and neurotransmitters involved in relapse induced by these stimuli in rats with a history of opioid (heroin, oxycodone, fentanyl) and psychostimulant (cocaine, methamphetamine) self-administration. During the reporting period, we have published several papers describing new findings from our studies. In one study we reported sex differences in the effect of chronic delivery of the buprenorphine analog BU08028 on heroin relapse and choice in a rat model of opioid maintenance. In another study we reported that acute pain-related depression of operant responding maintained by social interaction is insensitive to morphine. In another study we characterized of operant social interaction in male and female rats and determined the effects of access duration, effort, peer familiarity, housing conditions, and choice between social interaction versus food or remifentanil. In another study we introduced a new operant model of operant social interaction in female mice. In another study, we showed that the partial mu opioid receptor agonist TRV130 decreases fentanyl vs. food choice and somatic withdrawal signs in opioid-dependent and post-opioid-dependent rats. Finally, we published a large review that challenges the prevailing dogma of sex differences in opiate and psychostimulant craving and relapse in rat models and humans.