Publications by authors named "Diego Scala-Chavez"
Article Synopsis
- Research shows that the endocannabinoid (eCB) system could be a target for new treatments to complement opioid therapies.
- Enhancing levels of 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) through a specific enzyme inhibitor in mice reduces the rewarding effects of opioids without affecting their pain-relieving abilities.
- The research indicates that these effects are linked to cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1R) in a certain brain area, suggesting that boosting 2-AG could help in treating opioid addiction while maintaining pain management.
L-type Ca channels (Ca1.2/1.3) convey influx of calcium ions that orchestrate a bevy of biological responses including muscle contraction, neuronal function, and gene transcription.
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- Generalization helps us apply past experiences to new situations, and the infralimbic (IL) area in the brain is important for this process, although how it works is still not fully understood.
- In an experiment with mice, it was found that manipulating the IL's activity affected their defensive behaviors in response to ambiguous threats: silencing the IL increased generalized freezing, while stimulating it encouraged more vigilant behavior.
- Additionally, researchers identified specific groups of neurons (ensembles) in the IL that were linked to these generalized responses, revealing that these neuronal ensembles help control the degree of generalization when facing uncertain dangers.
Converging findings have established that the endocannabinoid (eCB) system serves as a possible target for the development of new treatments for pain as a complement to opioid-based treatments. Here we show in male and female mice that enhancing levels of the eCB, 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), through pharmacological inhibition of its catabolic enzyme, monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL), either systemically or in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) with JZL184, leads to a substantial attenuation of the rewarding effects of opioids in male and female mice using conditioned place preference and self-administration paradigms, without altering their analgesic properties. These effects are driven by CB1 receptors (CB1Rs) within the VTA as VTA CB1R conditional knockout, counteracts JZL184's effects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFL-type Ca channels (Ca 1.2/1.3) convey influx of calcium ions (Ca ) that orchestrate a bevy of biological responses including muscle contraction and gene transcription.
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