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. These include the identification of the ventral subiculum as a key region for incubation (time-dependent increases in drug seeking) of oxycodone craving after voluntary abstinence induced by adverse consequences of drug seeking, and the projection from the piriform cortex to anterior insular cortex in relapse to fentanyl seeking after food choice-induced abstinence. We also published a paper characterizing a new Oprm1-Cre transgenic rats that allow to measure and manipulate mu opioid receptor expressing cells in the brain. Finally, we published a large review summarizing the literature on the protective effects of positive social interaction on drug taking and seeking in different animal models.