Sex Differences in Drug Addiction: A Review of Animal and Human Studies

Fattore, Liana; Altea, S; Fratta, Walter

doi:10.2217/17455057.4.1.51

Cited by 159 publications

(151 citation statements)

References 127 publications

(184 reference statements)

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“…In summary, addiction is perhaps one of the fields in behavioural pharmacology that has advanced substantially in studying sex differences and several excellent reviews provide a more in-depth view of such progress (Lynch, 2006;Becker and Hu, 2008;Fattore et al, 2008;Carroll and Anker, 2010).…”

Section: Sex Differences In Animal Models Of Substance-related Disordersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Female rats exhibit a greater initial behavioural response to amphetamine or cocaine and show an even greater sensitization than male rats, that is a greater absolute increase in psychomotor behaviour to subsequent treatments (Becker et al, 2001). Although the effects of amphetamine sensitization are confounded by sex differences in amphetamine metabolism, sex differences persist even when males are given higher doses of amphetamine in order to produce comparable brain amphetamine concentrations (Robinson et al, 1982;Robinson, 1984;Camp and Robinson, 1988a,b;Forgie and Stewart, 1994;Fattore et al, 2008). Moreover, oestrogen-treated rats or rats in oestrous display a heightened amphetamine-induced locomotor activity (Becker and Beer, 1986;Becker, 1990;Becker et al, 2001).…”

Section: Sex Differences In Models Of Bipolar Disordermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the conditioned place aversion, when amphetamine at low doses is used as the aversive stimulus, female rats acquire stronger aversions than males and extinguish it more slowly (Roma et al, 2008). Lastly, in studies examining sex differences in locomotor sensitization, female rats are more sensitive than male rats to drug-induced locomotor sensitization (Festa and Quinones-Jenab, 2004a;Festa et al, 2004b;Nazarian et al, 2004;Carroll et al, 2007).In summary, addiction is perhaps one of the fields in behavioural pharmacology that has advanced substantially in studying sex differences and several excellent reviews provide a more in-depth view of such progress (Lynch, 2006;Becker and Hu, 2008;Fattore et al, 2008; Carroll and Anker, 2010). …”

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Sex differences in animal models of psychiatric disorders

Kokras

Dalla

2014

British J Pharmacology

359

187

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Psychiatric disorders are characterized by sex differences in their prevalence, symptomatology and treatment response. Animal models have been widely employed for the investigation of the neurobiology of such disorders and the discovery of new treatments. However, mostly male animals have been used in preclinical pharmacological studies. In this review, we highlight the need for the inclusion of both male and female animals in experimental studies aiming at gender-oriented prevention, diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders. We present behavioural findings on sex differences from animal models of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance-related disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and autism. Moreover, when available, we include studies conducted across different stages of the oestrous cycle. By inspection of the relevant literature, it is obvious that robust sex differences exist in models of all psychiatric disorders. However, many times results are conflicting, and no clear conclusion regarding the direction of sex differences and the effect of the oestrous cycle is drawn. Moreover, there is a lack of considerable amount of studies using psychiatric drugs in both male and female animals, in order to evaluate the differential response between the two sexes. Notably, while in most cases animal models successfully mimic drug response in both sexes, test parameters and treatment-sensitive behavioural indices are not always the same for male and female rodents. Thus, there is an increasing need to validate animal models for both sexes and use standard procedures across different laboratories. LINKED ARTICLESThis article is part of a themed section on Animal Models in Psychiatry Research. To view the other articles in this section visit http://dx.doi.org/10. 1111/bph.2014.171.issue-20 Abbreviations 5-HTT, 5-HT transporter; 8-OH-DPAT, 7-(Dipropylamino)-5,6,7,8-tetrahydronaphthalen-1-ol; Akt1, V-akt murine thymoma viral oncogene homologue 1; BDNF, brain-derived neurotrophic factor; BTBR, BTBR T + tf/J; CMS, chronic mild stress; COMT, catechol-O-methyltransferase-deficient mice; CR, conditioned response; CRF, corticotrophinreleasing factor; CS, conditioned stimulus; D1 receptor, dopamine 1 receptor; D2 receptor, dopamine 2 receptor; DISC1, disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1; Ehmt1, euchromatin histone methyltransferase 1; FBGRKO, forebrain glucocorticoid type II receptor (NR3C1) knockout; FSL, flinders sensitive rat line; FST, forced swim test; GSK3, glycogen synthase kinase 3; HAB, high anxiety-related behaviour rats; ICSS, intracranial self-stimulation; LAB, low anxiety-related behaviour rats; LI, latent inhibition; Mthfr, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase; OCD, obsessive-compulsive disorder; PPI, prepulse inhibition; PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder; SSRI, selective 5-HT re-uptake inhibitors; US, unconditioned stimulus; WKY, Wistar Kyoto IntroductionThe total disease burden for neuropsychiatric disorders in the European Union has been recently ...

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Section: Sex Differences In Animal Models Of Substance-related Disordersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sex Differences In Models Of Bipolar Disordermentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sex differences in animal models of psychiatric disorders

Kokras

Dalla

2014

British J Pharmacology

359

187

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“…L'usage croissant du cannabis chez les adolescents a donné lieu à une augmentation parallèle des recherches pharmacologiques et cliniques, mais il existe peu d'études concernant les différences hommes-femmes puisque celles-ci sont souvent sous-représentées dans les échantillons (Rubino et Parolaro, 2011 ;Fattore et Fratta, 2010). Les études sur les humains démontrent différents effets biologiques et comportementaux chez les deux sexes (Fattore et al, 2008), mais les origines et les mécanismes de ces différences demeurent incompris. Les hommes présentent des taux circulatoires plus élevés de THC (tétrahydrocannabinol, un ingrédient actif du cannabis) et sont plus sensibles à ses effets subjectifs (Hankey, 2007).…”

Section: Stimulantsunclassified

Existe-t-il des différences entre les hommes et les femmes en ce qui concerne les problèmes de toxicomanie ?

Mendrek

2014

smq

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La consommation et la dépendance aux drogues furent longtemps considérées comme un problème typiquement masculin. Néanmoins, bien que l’abus et la dépendance à l’alcool, au cannabis et à la nicotine soient encore plus répandus chez les hommes, les différences de genre en ce qui concerne les stimulants et les opiacés ont largement disparu. Il semblerait également que les motivations pour commencer à consommer, l’escalade vers la dépendance et les taux de cessation diffèrent chez les hommes et les femmes. Les raisons qui expliquent ces différences sont multiples et complexes. Nous allons examiner ici les données des études épidémiologiques et cliniques concernant la consommation de diverses drogues chez des hommes et chez des femmes en contexte des facteurs socioculturels, psychologiques et neurobiologiques.Drug use and drug addiction have been traditionally considered to be a male problem, however the gender gap has been decreasing over the past few decades. Thus, while the prevalence of alcohol, cannabis and nicotine dependence is still overall greater among men than among women, sex/gender differences in the abuse of stimulants and opiates seem to have disappeared. Moreover, women appear to be more prone to develop drug dependence, suffer more severe physical and psychological consequences of drug abuse, and have more difficulties quitting the habit. Numerous psychological, socio-cultural and biological factors have been implicated in these changing statistics. For example, while a large proportion of men initiate drug use to induce feelings of elation, energy or focus, women frequently start taking drugs to alleviate pre-existing mental health problems, including high levels of stress, feelings of alienation, depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder. This maladaptive self-medication strategy often results in a faster transition to a habitual drug use and eventually a more severe dependence. In addition, the socio-cultural norms (particularly in the Western society) have changed dramatically over the past few decades. Thus, while there is still a more severe stigma and prejudice against women who use drugs (especially if they are pregnant of have children), overall there is much greater acceptance of women’s drug use than it was several decades ago. Moreover, women have much greater access to various drugs of abuse than they used to have. Finally, over the past couple of decades new research started emerging pointing to some neurobiological factors that could also contribute to sex differences in drug addiction. Thus, there is now evidence that dopamine system, which for decades has been strongly implicated in drug reinforcement, is sexually dimorphic. The number of dopaminergic neurons, the density of the dopaminergic terminals, as well as responsiveness of the dopaminergic system to drugs of abuse, has been shown to differ between males and females and it has been shown to be modulated by sex steroid hormones, especially estrogen. For example, female rats exhibit greater motivation to self-admini...

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“…Notably, the existence of sex differences in drug self-administration is an additional trait that cannabinoids share with other drugs of abuse (Fattore et al 2008).…”

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confidence: 99%

Neurobiological mechanisms of cannabinoid addiction

Fattore

Fadda

Spano

et al. 2008

Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology

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Please cite this article as: Fattore, L., Fadda, P., Spano, M.S., Pistis, M., Fratta, W., Neurobiological mechanisms of cannabinoid addiction, Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology (2007), doi:10.1016/j.mce.2008 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t 2 AbstractThe endocannabinoid system is implicated in the regulation of a variety of physiological processes, among which conditioning, motivation, habit forming, memory, learning, and cognition play pivotal roles in drug reinforcement and reward. In this article we will give a synopsis of last developments in research on cannabinoid actions on brain reward circuits coming from behavioral, neurochemical and electrophysiological studies. Central cannabinoid-induced effects as measured by animal models of addiction, in vivo cerebral microdialysis, in vitro and in vivo electrophysiological recording techniques, will be reviewed.Brain sites that have been implicated in the mediation of addictive cannabinoid properties include primarily the ventral tegmental area, the nucleus accumbens, and the medial prefrontal cortex, although the amygdala, the substantia nigra, the globus pallidus, and the hippocampus have also been shown to be critical structures mediating motivational and reinforcing effects of cannabinoids. Putative neurobiological mechanisms underlying these effects will be delineated.

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Sex Differences in Drug Addiction: A Review of Animal and Human Studies

Cited by 159 publications

References 127 publications

Sex differences in animal models of psychiatric disorders

Sex differences in animal models of psychiatric disorders

Existe-t-il des différences entre les hommes et les femmes en ce qui concerne les problèmes de toxicomanie ?

Neurobiological mechanisms of cannabinoid addiction

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