Psychopharmacology
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Opioid addiction is a chronic, recurrent brain disease that is characterised by compulsive drug seeking and a high rate of relapse even after long periods of abstinence. Prevention of relapse is the primary goal of addiction treatment and is still the major limitation in drug therapy. ⋯ In conclusion, as RHO was effective for reducing craving and vulnerability to relapse, it might be a very effective natural remedy for the treatment of opioid addiction.
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Accumulating clinical and preclinical studies have shown that the memories of the rewarding effects of drugs and their paired cues may contribute to relapse and persistent cocaine use. Glutaminergic actions in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) have been shown to regulate the rewarding effect of drugs and conditioned responses to drug-associated cues, but the role of the VTA in the acquisition, retrieval, and reconsolidation of cocaine cues is not yet known. ⋯ Our findings suggest that the NMDA receptor glycine modulatory site in the VTA plays a major role in cocaine reward memory, and NMDA receptor glycine site antagonists may be potential pharmacotherapies for the management of relapse.
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Peripheral neuropathic pain is a chronic condition that may produce plastic changes in several brain regions. The noradrenergic locus coeruleus (LC) is a crucial component of ascending and descending pain pathways, both of which are frequently compromised after nerve injury. ⋯ Neuropathic pain is not accompanied by modifications in tonic LC activity after the onset of pain. This may indicate that the signals from the PGi and DRN, the excitatory and inhibitory afferents of the LC, cancel one another out.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Manipulation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors differentially affects behavioral inhibition in human subjects with and without disordered baseline impulsivity.
Evidence for a relationship between cigarette smoking and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has prompted investigations into nicotinic treatments for this disorder. Impulsivity is a hallmark of ADHD and is measured in the laboratory as behavioral inhibition (BI) using the stop signal task (SST). Acute nicotine improves SST performance in adolescents and young adults who have both ADHD and impaired baseline SST performance, raising questions about the role of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor function in BI. The specificity of this effect to those with ADHD, the component processes of the SST affected by nicotine, and the effects of nicotinic antagonism are yet unknown. ⋯ These findings demonstrate nicotinic modulation of BI in subjects with both normal and disordered baseline performance. The effects on BI are consistent with cholinergic enhancement of signal detection processes and/or modulation of noradrenaline by nicotine.
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Previous research suggests that the vesicular monoamine transporter-2 (VMAT2) is a novel target for the treatment of methamphetamine (METH) abuse. ⋯ These results indicate that VMAT2 is a viable target for pharmacological inhibition of METH reward and that GZ-793A represents a new lead in the discovery of a treatment for METH abuse.