Stress-induced cocaine seeking requires a beta-2 adrenergic receptor-regulated pathway from the ventral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis that regulates CRF actions in the ventral tegmental area. J Neurosci 2014 Sep 10;34(37):12504-14
Date
09/12/2014Pubmed ID
25209288Pubmed Central ID
PMC4160780DOI
10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0680-14.2014Scopus ID
2-s2.0-84907008503 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 66 CitationsAbstract
The ventral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (vBNST) has been implicated in stress-induced cocaine use. Here we demonstrate that, in the vBNST, corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) is expressed in neurons that innervate the ventral tegmental area (VTA), a site where the CRF receptor antagonist antalarmin prevents the reinstatement of cocaine seeking by a stressor, intermittent footshock, following intravenous self-administration in rats. The vBNST receives dense noradrenergic innervation and expresses β adrenergic receptors (ARs). Footshock-induced reinstatement was prevented by bilateral intra-vBNST injection of the β-2 AR antagonist, ICI-118,551, but not the β-1 AR antagonist, betaxolol. Moreover, bilateral intra-vBNST injection of the β-2 AR agonist, clenbuterol, but not the β-1 agonist, dobutamine, reinstated cocaine seeking, suggesting that activation of vBNST β-2 AR is both necessary for stress-induced reinstatement and sufficient to induce cocaine seeking. The contribution of a β-2 AR-regulated vBNST-to-VTA pathway that releases CRF was investigated using a disconnection approach. Injection of ICI-118,551 into the vBNST in one hemisphere and antalarmin into the VTA of the contralateral hemisphere prevented footshock-induced reinstatement, whereas ipsilateral manipulations failed to attenuate stress-induced cocaine seeking, suggesting that β-2 AR regulate vBNST efferents that release CRF into the VTA, activating CRF receptors, and promoting cocaine use. Last, reinstatement by clenbuterol delivered bilaterally into the vBNST was prevented by bilateral vBNST pretreatment with antalarmin, indicating that β-2 AR-mediated actions in the vBNST also require local CRF receptor activation. Understanding the processes through which stress induces cocaine seeking should guide the development of new treatments for addiction.
Author List
Vranjkovic O, Gasser PJ, Gerndt CH, Baker DA, Mantsch JRAuthors
Paul Gasser BS,MS,PhD Assistant Professor in the Biomedical Sciences department at Marquette UniversityJohn Mantsch PhD Chair, Professor in the Pharmacology and Toxicology department at Medical College of Wisconsin
MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AnimalsCocaine-Related Disorders
Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone
Male
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Receptors, Adrenergic, beta-2
Septal Nuclei
Signal Transduction
Stress, Psychological
Ventral Tegmental Area
