Subchronic nandrolone administration reduces cocaine-induced dopamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine outflow in the rat nucleus accumbens

Kurling-Kailanto, Sanna; Kankaanpää, Aino; Seppαlä, Timo

doi:10.1007/s00213-010-1796-9

Cited by 18 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 43 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Thus, AAS and AMPH exhibit opposing effects on both Acb-dependent behavior and Acb spine density (current study). Furthermore, pretreatment with AAS blunts both the motor response and Acb DA release induced by stimulant treatment (Birgner et al 2007; Kurling-Kailanto et al 2010). Therefore AAS seem to oppose the effects of stimulants, and may alter decision making by suppressing DA release in Acb.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anabolic-androgenic steroids decrease dendritic spine density in the nucleus accumbens of male rats

Wallin-Miller

Kelishani

et al. 2016

Neuroscience

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Recent studies have demonstrated that anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) modify cognitive processes such as decision making and behavioral flexibility. However, the neural mechanisms underlying these AAS-induced cognitive changes remain poorly understood. The mesocorticolimbic dopamine (DA) system, particularly the nucleus accumbens (Acb), is important for reward, motivated behavior, and higher cognitive processes such as decision making. Therefore, AAS-induced plasticity in the DA system is a potential structural substrate for the observed cognitive alterations. High doses of testosterone (the most commonly-used AAS) increase dendritic spine density in limbic regions including the amygdala and hippocampus. However, effects on Acb are unknown. This was the focus of the present study. Adolescent male Long-Evans rats were treated chronically for 8 weeks with high-dose testosterone (7.5 mg/kg in water with 13% cyclodextrin) or vehicle sc. Brains were stained by Golgi-Cox to analyze neuronal morphology in medium spiny neurons of the shell region of Acb (AcbSh). 8 weeks of testosterone treatment significantly decreased spine density in AcbSh compared to brains of vehicle-treated rats (F1,14 = 5.455, p<0.05). Testosterone did not significantly affect total spine number, dendritic length, or arborization measured by Sholl analysis. These results show that AAS alter neuronal morphology in AcbSh by decreasing spine density throughout the dendritic tree, and provides a potential mechanism for AAS to modify cognition and decision-making behavior.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anabolic-androgenic steroids decrease dendritic spine density in the nucleus accumbens of male rats

Wallin-Miller

Kelishani

et al. 2016

Neuroscience

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…AAS affect DA function within the mesocorticolimbic circuitry, providing a possible mechanism for these drugs to impair behavioral flexibility (Birgner et al, 2007; Kindlundh et al, 2001; Kurling-Kailanto et al, 2010). The mesocorticolimbic DA system involves dopaminergic projections from the midbrain to the PFC and striatum (Kauer and Malenka, 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The present study determined if AAS impair behavioral flexibility. AAS have been implicated in changes to dopamine function in the prefrontal cortical-striatal circuitry on which behavioral flexibility depends (Wood et al , 2013; Kurling-Kailanto et al , 2010). In particular, because prefrontal cortex (PFC) circuitry is still developing during adolescence (Blakemore and Choudhury, 2006), it is important to understand how adolescent steroid use may impair behavioral flexibility and its underlying neurobiological mechanisms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anabolic–androgenic steroids impair set-shifting and reversal learning in male rats

Wallin¹,

Wood²

2015

European Neuropsychopharmacology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) abuse is prevalent not only among elite athletes, but is increasingly common in high school and collegiate sports. AAS are implicated in maladaptive behaviors such as increased aggression and risk taking, which may result from impaired cognition. Because they affect dopamine function in prefrontal cortical (PFC)-striatal circuitry, AAS may disrupt PFC-dependent processes such as behavioral flexibility. This was the focus of the present study. Adolescent male Long-Evans rats were treated chronically with high-dose testosterone (7.5 mg/kg in water with 13% cyclodextrin) or vehicle sc, and tested for set-shifting and reversal-learning. For set-shifting, rats were trained on a visual cue task (VCT), then were shifted to a direction cue task (DCT), or vice-versa. For reversal learning, rats were first trained on VCT and were then required to press the opposite lever. 2-cue set-shifting introduced a novel paradigm in which rats shifted from a 1-Light Visual Task (1LVT) to a tone cue task (TCT). Testosterone-treated rats were significantly impaired on the set-shift from DCT to VCT compared to vehicle-treated controls (trials to criterion: vehicle 240.9±29.9, testosterone 388.3±59.3, p<0.05). However, on the set-shift from VCT to DCT, testosterone did not affect performance. During reversal-learning, testosterone significantly increased trials to criterion (vehicle: 495.9±91.8 trials, testosterone: 793.7±96.7 trials, p<0.05). In 2-cue set-shifting, testosterone diminished performance and the difference showed borderline significance (vehicle: 443.2±84.4 trials, testosterone: 800.4±178.2 trials, p=0.09). Our results show that testosterone impairs behavioral flexibility and have implications for understanding cognitive and behavioral changes in human AAS users.

show abstract

“…Cost/benefit decision making depends on prefrontal cortical (PFC)-striatal circuitry (Floresco et al , 2008a), that develops during adolescence (Blakemore and Robbins, 2012). AAS perturb dopamine (DA) function in this system (Kindlundh et al , 2001; Kurling-Kailanto et al , 2010; Wood et al , 2013), and have the strongest behavioral effects when introduced in adolescence (Salas-Ramirez et al , 2008). Therefore, chronic high-dose testosterone exposure beginning in adolescence has potential to alter decision making behavior.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anabolic–androgenic steroids and decision making: Probability and effort discounting in male rats

Wallin

Alves

Wood

2015

Psychoneuroendocrinology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) abuse is implicated in maladaptive behaviors such as increased aggression and risk taking. Impaired judgment due to changes in the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system may contribute to these behavioral changes. While AAS are known to influence dopamine function in mesocorticolimbic circuitry, the effects on decision making are unknown. This was the focus of the present study. Adolescent male Long-Evans rats were treated chronically with high-dose testosterone (7.5 mg/kg) or vehicle (13% cyclodextrin in water), and tested for cost/benefit decision making in two discounting paradigms. Rats chose between a small reward (1 sugar pellet) and a large discounted reward (3 or 4 pellets). Probability discounting (PD) measures sensitivity to reward uncertainty by decreasing the probability (100, 75, 50, 25, 0%) of receiving the large reward in successive blocks of each daily session. Effort discounting (ED) measures sensitivity to a work cost by increasing the lever presses required to earn the large reward (1, 2, 5, 10, 15 presses). In PD, testosterone-treated rats selected the large/uncertain reward significantly less than vehicle-treated controls. However, during ED, testosterone-treated rats selected the large/high effort reward significantly more than controls. These studies show that testosterone has divergent effects on different aspects of decision making. Specifically, testosterone increases aversion to uncertainty but decreases sensitivity to the output of effort for reward. These results have implications for understanding maladaptive behavioral changes in human AAS users.

show abstract

Subchronic nandrolone administration reduces cocaine-induced dopamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine outflow in the rat nucleus accumbens

Cited by 18 publications

References 43 publications

Anabolic-androgenic steroids decrease dendritic spine density in the nucleus accumbens of male rats

Anabolic-androgenic steroids decrease dendritic spine density in the nucleus accumbens of male rats

Anabolic–androgenic steroids impair set-shifting and reversal learning in male rats

Anabolic–androgenic steroids and decision making: Probability and effort discounting in male rats

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About