Purmorphamine Alters Anxiety-Like Behavior and Expression of Hedgehog Cascade Components in Rat Brain after Alcohol Withdrawal.

Disturbances in the Hedgehog (Hh) signaling play an important role in dysmorphogenesis of bone tissue and central nervous system during prenatal alcohol exposure, which underlies development of fetal alcohol syndrome. The involvement of Hh proteins in the mechanisms of alcohol intake in adults remains obscure. We investigated the role of the Hh cascade in voluntary ethanol drinking and development of anxiety-like behavior (ALB) during early abstinence and assessed changes in the expression of Hh pathway components in different brain regions of male Wistar rats in a model of voluntary alcohol drinking using the intermittent access to 20% ethanol in a two-bottle choice procedure.

An Intricated of Addicted Brain and Body Is Orchestrated by Stress and Neuroplasticity.

Dependence on psychoactive substances is a phenomenon that is based on the alterations of common molecular and cellular mechanisms, structures and neuronal networks underlying normal brain functioning and realizing stress response, reinforcement and aversion, learning and memory. As a result, aberrant neuroplasticity states associated with somatic changes are formed, which determine the pathogenesis and symptoms of dependence and at the same time can be considered as targets for the development of therapies for such addictions. An integrative scheme of stress and neuroplastic changes participation in the formation of the vicious circle of substance use disorders based on a holistic approach is presented.

[Contents of BDNF, miR-30a-5p and miR-122 during alcohol withdrawal syndrome].

Some BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor)-targeted microRNAs such as miR-30a-5p associate with alcohol dependence phenomenon however their relationship with AWS is not described. We aimed to measure serum BDNF concentration and relative content of miR-30a-5p over the course of alcohol abstinence and compare obtained results with clinics of AWS. Additionally, we studied relative serum content of miR-30a-5p, a microRNA which does not target BDNF but relates to alcohol use disorder.