The present study demonstrates for the first time that OT actions within the brain mediate the anxiety response triggered by cues previously paired with cocaine intake.

It is known that changes in gene expression within the nucleus accumbens (NAc) occur during cocaine dependence development. However, identification of specific genes involved in cocaine conditioning awaits further investigation. We conducted a high throughput gene expression profile analysis of the NAc, during different stages of the environment-elicited cocaine conditioning. Rats were assigned to two different environmental conditions. Cocaine conditioned group received a cocaine injection (10 mg/kg, i.p.) prior to being placed in the activity chambers. Control rats received saline injections before being exposed to their environment. Both groups received a saline injection in their home cage. Conditioning training lasted for 10 days. Animals were then re-exposed to their previously paired environments only on day 12 (test session). We found that the gene for arginine vasopressin (AVP) was differentially expressed on experimental subjects during all stages of environment-elicited cocaine conditioning. To further validate our molecular results, biochemical and immunolocalization experiments were conducted. We found the presence of AVP within accumbal fibers and changes in AVP protein levels following cocaine conditioning. Moreover, we tested the effects of accumbal microinfusions of either AVP receptor V1A agonist [pGlu4, Cyt6, Arg8] AVP 4-9 1.0 ng/0.5μl, or V1A antagonist (CH2) 5[Tyr (Me) 2] AVP, 1.0 ng/0.5μl or vehicle solution (0.9% saline solution) during different stages of the cocaine conditioning. Blockade of V1A receptors within the NAc during acquisition interrupted the expression of the conditioned response, while activation leads to an increase in this response. Our findings propose a new role for AVP in cocaine addiction.

No abstract

The metabotropic glutamate receptors 5 (mGluRs5) within the Nucleus Accumbens (NAc) have been implicated in the modulation of psychostimulant reward. We hypothesized that blockade of mGluR5 within the NAc shell would impair cocaine conditioning in rats. For this study, animals were implanted with cannulae within the NAc shell, and separate groups were exposed to a multimodal environment within activity chambers that signaled cocaine (cocaine-paired) or saline (controls, cocaine-unpaired) injections. Prior to placing the animals in the chambers, rats received systemic intraperitoneal injections of saline or cocaine for 10 consecutive sessions. In the test session (D12), animals were exposed to the multimodal environment without any cocaine or saline pre-treatment. Before placing the rats in the chambers, separate groups of animals were infused within the NAc shell with 2.5, 12 or 25nmol/0.5μl/side of 2-methyl-6- (phenylethynyl) pyridine (MPEP), an antagonist of mGluR5 or with vehicle. Blockade of the mGluR5 subtype at a 2.5nmol dose showed no significant difference in either the ambulatory distance (AD) or the vertical plane move time (VPT). In contrast, mGluR5 blockade at 12nmol and 25nmol decreased conditioned locomotion in the cocaine-paired groups. An association of the environmental cues with the effects of cocaine implies the involvement of memory process during the conditioning response. Our results suggest that mGluR5 within the NAc shell could be modulating the expression of memory related to the association of environmental cues with the effects of cocaine. We suggest that mGluR5 could be taking into account to further studies related with cocaine exposure and cocaine addiction treatments.