Artificial Intelligence Identified Resilient and Vulnerable Female Rats After Traumatic Stress and Ethanol Exposure: Investigation of Neuropeptide Y Pathway Regulation.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is initiated by traumatic-stress exposure and manifests into a collection of symptoms including increased anxiety, sleep disturbances, enhanced response to triggers, and increased sympathetic nervous system arousal. PTSD is highly co-occurring with alcohol use disorder. Only some individuals experiencing traumatic stress develop PTSD and a subset of individuals with PTSD develop co-occurring alcohol use disorder.

Sex differences in the effect of the FKBP5 inhibitor SAFit2 on anxiety and stress-induced reinstatement following cocaine self-administration.

Cocaine use and withdrawal prompt stress system responses. Stress and the negative affective state produced by cocaine withdrawal are major triggers for relapse. FKBP5 is a co-chaperone of the glucocorticoid receptor and regulates HPA axis negative feedback.

Regulation of CRF mRNA in the Rat Extended Amygdala Following Chronic Cocaine: Sex Differences and Effect of Delta Opioid Receptor Agonism.

Background: Cocaine withdrawal activates stress systems. Females are more vulnerable to relapse to cocaine use and more sensitive to withdrawal-induced negative affect. Delta opioid receptors modulate anxiety-like behavior during cocaine withdrawal in rats.

Chronic cocaine administration upregulates FKBP5 in the extended amygdala of male and female rats.

Background: Dysregulation of glucocorticoid receptors has been implicated in addiction and stress-related disorders. FKBP5 is a co-chaperone of the glucocorticoid receptor and regulates receptor sensitivity. While FKBP5 is known to be involved in mood- and stress-related disorders, less is known regarding FKBP5 and cocaine abuse.

Effects of Suvorexant, a Dual Orexin/Hypocretin Receptor Antagonist, on Impulsive Behavior Associated with Cocaine.

Hypothalamic hypocretin (orexin) peptides mediate arousal, attention, and reward processing. Fibers containing orexins project to brain structures that govern motivated behavior, including the ventral tegmental area (VTA). A number of psychiatric conditions, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and substance use disorders, are characterized by deficits in impulse control, however the relationship between orexin and impulsive behavior is incompletely characterized.

Long-term effects of chronic nicotine on emotional and cognitive behaviors and hippocampus cell morphology in mice: comparisons of adult and adolescent nicotine exposure.

Nicotine dependence is associated with increased risk for emotional, cognitive and neurological impairments later in life. This study investigated the long-term effects of nicotine exposure during adolescence and adulthood on measures of depression, anxiety, learning and hippocampal pyramidal cell morphology. Mice (C57BL/6J) received saline or nicotine for 12 days via pumps implanted on postnatal day 32 (adolescent) or 54 (adults).

Chemokines and cocaine: CXCR4 receptor antagonist AMD3100 attenuates cocaine place preference and locomotor stimulation in rats.

Plasma levels of the chemokine CXCL12 are elevated in mice following acute cocaine exposure and decreased in human cocaine abusers during withdrawal. CXCL12 is also one of the few chemokines located in the brain and can modulate dopamine transmission through activation of its receptor CXCR4. To assess a role for the CXCL12/CXCR4 system in behavioral effects of cocaine, we tested the hypothesis that AMD 3100 (Plerixafor), a CXCR4 antagonist, would inhibit conditioned place preference (CPP) and locomotor activation produced by cocaine.