Masroor Shariff

The role of the glucocorticoids in developing resilience to stress and addiction.

There is emerging evidence that individuals have the capacity to learn to be resilient by developing protective mechanisms that prevent them from the maladaptive effects of stress that can contribute to addiction. The emerging field of the neuroscience of resilience is beginning to uncover the circuits and molecules that protect against stress-related neuropsychiatric diseases, such as addiction. Glucocorticoids (GCs) are important regulators of basal and stress-related homeostasis in all higher organisms and influence a wide array of genes in almost every organ and tissue. GCs, therefore, are ideally situated to either promote or prevent adaptation to stress. In this review, we will focus on the role of GCs in the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenocortical axis and extra-hypothalamic regions in regulating basal and chronic stress responses. GCs interact with a large number of neurotransmitter and neuropeptide systems that are associated with the development of addiction. Additionally, the review will focus on the orexinergic and cholinergic pathways and highlight their role in stress and addiction. GCs play a key role in promoting the development of resilience or susceptibility and represent important pharmacotherapeutic targets that can reduce the impact of a maladapted stress system for the treatment of stress-induced addiction.

Neuronal Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Modulators Reduce Sugar Intake.

Excess sugar consumption has been shown to contribute directly to weight gain, thus contributing to the growing worldwide obesity epidemic. Interestingly, increased sugar consumption has been shown to repeatedly elevate dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), in the mesolimbic reward pathway of the brain similar to many drugs of abuse. We report that varenicline, an FDA-approved nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) partial agonist that modulates dopamine in the mesolimbic reward pathway of the brain, significantly reduces sucrose consumption, especially in a long-term consumption paradigm. Similar results were observed with other nAChR drugs, namely mecamylamine and cytisine. Furthermore, we show that long-term sucrose consumption increases α4β2 * and decreases α6β2* nAChRs in the nucleus accumbens, a key brain region associated with reward. Taken together, our results suggest that nAChR drugs such as varenicline may represent a novel treatment strategy for reducing sugar consumption.

Prolonged Consumption of Sucrose in a Binge-Like Manner, Alters the Morphology of Medium Spiny Neurons in the Nucleus Accumbens Shell.

The modern diet has become highly sweetened, resulting in unprecedented levels of sugar consumption, particularly among adolescents. While chronic long-term sugar intake is known to contribute to the development of metabolic disorders including obesity and type II diabetes, little is known regarding the direct consequences of long-term, binge-like sugar consumption on the brain. Because sugar can cause the release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) similarly to drugs of abuse, we investigated changes in the morphology of neurons in this brain region following short- (4 weeks) and long-term (12 weeks) binge-like sucrose consumption using an intermittent two-bottle choice paradigm. We used Golgi-Cox staining to impregnate medium spiny neurons (MSNs) from the NAc core and shell of short- and long-term sucrose consuming rats and compared these to age-matched water controls. We show that prolonged binge-like sucrose consumption significantly decreased the total dendritic length of NAc shell MSNs compared to age-matched control rats. We also found that the restructuring of these neurons resulted primarily from reduced distal dendritic complexity. Conversely, we observed increased spine densities at the distal branch orders of NAc shell MSNs from long-term sucrose consuming rats. Combined, these results highlight the neuronal effects of prolonged binge-like intake of sucrose on NAc shell MSN morphology.

The antihypertensive drug pindolol attenuates long-term but not short-term binge-like ethanol consumption in mice

Alcohol dependence is a debilitating disorder with current therapies displaying limited efficacy and/or compliance. Consequently, there is a critical need for improved pharmacotherapeutic strategies to manage alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Previous studies have shown that the development of alcohol dependence involves repeated cycles of binge‐like ethanol intake and abstinence. Therefore, we used a model of binge–ethanol consumption (drinking‐in‐the‐dark) in mice to test the effects of compounds known to modify the activity of neurotransmitters implicated in alcohol addiction. From this, we have identified the FDA‐approved antihypertensive drug pindolol, as a potential candidate for the management of AUDs. We show that the efficacy of pindolol to reduce ethanol consumption is enhanced following long‐term (12 weeks) binge–ethanol intake, compared with short‐term (4 weeks) intake. Furthermore, pindolol had no effect on locomotor activity or consumption of the natural reward sucrose. Because pindolol acts as a dual beta‐adrenergic antagonist and 5‐HT1A/1B partial agonist, we examined its effect on spontaneous synaptic activity in the basolateral amygdala (BLA), a brain region densely innervated by serotonin and norepinephrine‐containing fibres. Pindolol increased spontaneous excitatory post‐synaptic current frequency of BLA principal neurons from long‐term ethanol‐consuming mice but not naïve mice. Additionally, this effect was blocked by the 5‐HT1A/1B receptor antagonist methiothepin, suggesting that altered serotonergic activity in the BLA may contribute to the efficacy of pindolol to reduce ethanol intake following long‐term exposure. Although further mechanistic investigations are required, this study demonstrates the potential of pindolol as a new treatment option for AUDs that can be fast‐tracked into human clinical studies.

A Rat Drinking in the Dark Model for Studying Ethanol and Sucrose Consumption

Background: The intermittent access 2-bottle choice (IA2BC) and drinking in the dark (DID) models were developed for studying rodent binge-like consumption. Traditionally, IA2BC was used with rats and DID with mice. Recently, IA2BC was adapted to study mouse ethanol consumption. However, it is unknown whether DID is suitable for rats or if one rat model is more advantageous than another for studying binge-like consumption. Methods: Male Wistar rats consumed 20% ethanol or 5% sucrose using IA2BC or DID for 12 weeks. IA2BC drinking sessions occurred on alternate days (Mondays–Fridays) and lasted 24 h, whereas DID sessions ran 4 h/day, 5 days/week (Monday–Friday). Average consumption/session, week and hour was measured. To explore DID model suitability for screening novel compounds for controlling ethanol and sucrose intake, varenicline (2 mg/kg) or vehicle was administered to DID rats. Results: IA2BC rats consume more ethanol/session and similar amounts of ethanol/week than DID rats. While, IA2BC rats consume more sucrose/session and week than DID rats. Although IA2BC rats had more ethanol and sucrose access time, DID rats had greater ethanol and sucrose intake/hour. Varenicline significantly reduced ethanol and sucrose consumption in DID rats, consistent with previously published IA2BC studies. Conclusions: Despite the shorter access time, the rat DID model induced higher initial intake and greater consumption/hour for both ethanol and sucrose. The shorter duration of DID sessions did not prevent detection of varenicline-induced reductions in ethanol or sucrose consumption, suggesting the DID model may be suitable for studying binge-like ethanol and sucrose consumption.

Increased Synaptic Excitation and Abnormal Dendritic Structure of Prefrontal Cortex Layer V Pyramidal Neurons following Prolonged Binge-Like Consumption of Ethanol.

Abstract Long-term alcohol use causes a multitude of neurochemical changes in cortical regions that facilitate the transition to dependence. Therefore, we used a model of long-term, binge-like ethanol consumption in rats to determine the effects on morphology and synaptic physiology of medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) layer V pyramidal neurons. Following 10 weeks of ethanol consumption, we recorded synaptic currents from mPFC neurons and used neurobiotin filling to analyze their morphology. We then compared these data to measurements obtained from age-matched, water-drinking control rats. We found that long-term ethanol consumption caused a significant increase in total dendrite arbor length of mPFC layer V pyramidal neurons. Dendritic restructuring was primarily observed in basal dendrite arbors, with mPFC neurons from animals engaged in long-term ethanol drinking having significantly larger and more complex basal arbors compared with controls. These changes were accompanied by significantly increased total spine densities and spontaneous postsynaptic excitatory current frequency, suggesting that long-term binge-like ethanol consumption enhances basal excitatory synaptic transmission in mPFC layer V pyramidal neurons. Our results provide insights into the morphological and functional changes in mPFC layer V pyramidal neuronal physiology following prolonged exposure to ethanol and support changes in mPFC activity during the development of alcohol dependence.

Effects of alcohol on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and impact on addiction

While it is widely known that alcohol and nicotine addictions commonly co-occur, no pharmacotherapies are yet marketed for codependent individuals. This is a striking observation given the broad implications and detrimental impacts that arise from this drug combination. Over the past decade, clinical and research efforts have exposed a common effector-neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). In this chapter, we describe alcohols actions as a powerful reinforcer. Through neuronal nAChRs, alcohol hijacks the natural reward circuitry and creates conditioned drug associations. This endows it with the power to sustain, prolong, and reinstate further alcohol and nicotine-seeking behaviors. The narrative is based on experience and considerations made in the course of our research, and it highlights key cholinergic receptors indicated in alcohols modulation of addiction, tolerance, withdrawal, and relapse. We believe that the delineation of these cholinergic receptors is the key to creating targeted therapeutics for alcohol use disorders and reducing the comorbidity of nicotine addiction.