title: Self-administered and passive cocaine infusions produce different effects on corticosterone concentrations in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPC) of rats.
abstract: Although our lab, as well as several others, has demonstrated a role for corticosterone in cocaine self-administration, there are no studies of the central dynamics of this hormone over the course of a behavioral session when rats are self-administering cocaine or receiving passive injections. The assay of corticosterone in microdialysates collected during such sessions allows for determinations of changes in brain corticosterone during drug-taking behavior. By using the combination of microdialysis in terminal fields for the mesocorticolimbic dopaminergic system and the yoked-triad model, one can distinguish between the direct cocaine-induced activation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis from the activation of the HPA axis related to drug-taking. In these experiments, we measured corticosterone in microdialysis samples collected from probes aimed at the medial prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens and basolateral amygdala in rats self-administering cocaine and receiving identical, passive infusions of cocaine or saline. While corticosterone was increased in all three brain regions in rats receiving cocaine, medial prefrontal cortex corticosterone was increased significantly more in rats receiving non-contingent infusions of the drug compared to rats self-administering cocaine. The results of these experiments demonstrate that control over drug delivery can affect the influence of a hormonal input on the functional characteristics of specific anatomical projections of the central nervous system. These results also provide evidence of the role steroid hormones play in shaping the functional activity of the brain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Neuroscience, LSU Health Sciences Center, PO Box 33932, 1501 Kings Hwy, Shreveport, LA 71130-3932, USA.
authors.forename: Vitaly
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Palamarchouk
authors.forename: Gennady
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Smagin
authors.forename: Nicholas E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Goeders
mesh_terms: D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000097:blood; D000679:Amygdala / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects*; D003042:Cocaine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003216:Conditioning, Operant; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D007262:Infusions, Intravenous; D008297:Male; D017551:Microdialysis; D009714:Nucleus Accumbens / Q000737:chemistry*; D009928:Organ Specificity; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000737:chemistry*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D012646:Self Administration; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; D003042:Cocaine; D003345:Corticosterone
references.citation: Am J Psychiatry. 2007 Aug;164(8):1149-59
references.pmid: 17671276
references.citation: J Addict Dis. 2001;20(3):105-19
references.pmid: 11681586
references.citation: Psychoneuroendocrinology. 1997 May;22(4):237-59
references.pmid: 9226728
references.citation: J Neuroendocrinol. 2009 Feb;21(2):132-40
references.pmid: 19076270
references.citation: Psychopharmacology (Berl). 1995 Feb;117(3):262-6
references.pmid: 7770601
references.citation: Klin Wochenschr. 1985 Jul 1;63(13):607-12
references.pmid: 2993735
references.citation: Neuroscience. 2003;117(2):461-75
references.pmid: 12614686
references.citation: Brain Res. 1988 Aug 23;458(2):339-47
references.pmid: 2463050
references.citation: J Clin Invest. 1983 Jul;72(1):404-8
references.pmid: 6135709
references.citation: J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2002 Jun;301(3):785-9
references.pmid: 12023504
references.citation: J Neurosci Methods. 1980 Dec;3(2):129-49
references.pmid: 6110810
references.citation: Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2008;32(3):581-97
references.pmid: 18164058
references.citation: Psychopharmacology (Berl). 1997 Sep;133(1):7-16
references.pmid: 9335075
references.citation: Stress. 2008 Mar;11(2):88-100
references.pmid: 17853068
references.citation: J Neurosci. 1995 Apr;15(4):2920-34
references.pmid: 7536823
references.citation: Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2008 Aug;90(2):163-73
references.pmid: 18028991
references.citation: Pharmacol Rev. 2001 Jun;53(2):209-43
references.pmid: 11356984
references.citation: Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2002 Jan-Feb;27(1-2):5-12
references.pmid: 11750767
references.citation: Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1982 Mar;16(3):509-19
references.pmid: 6123120
references.citation: Am J Psychiatry. 2005 Aug;162(8):1432-40
references.pmid: 16055764
references.citation: Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2005 Sep 1;207(2 Suppl):257-60
references.pmid: 16043202
references.citation: Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2003 Dec;13(6):435-41
references.pmid: 14636959
references.citation: Peptides. 1987 Sep-Oct;8(5):819-22
references.pmid: 2829143
references.citation: Am J Psychiatry. 2005 Aug;162(8):1483-93
references.pmid: 16055769
references.citation: Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2002 Jan-Feb;27(1-2):13-33
references.pmid: 11750768
references.citation: Neuron. 1998 Sep;21(3):467-76
references.pmid: 9768834
references.citation: J Neuroendocrinol. 2002 Sep;14(9):753-9
references.pmid: 12213137
references.citation: Brain Res. 1987 Oct 6;422(2):403-6
references.pmid: 2823980
references.citation: NIDA Res Monogr. 1990;97:163-76
references.pmid: 2174122
references.citation: Curr Opin Psychiatry. 2009 May;22(3):263-8
references.pmid: 19307968
references.citation: J Med Chem. 1999 Jul 29;42(15):2721-36
references.pmid: 10425082
references.citation: Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2002 May;161(3):222-32
references.pmid: 12021825
references.citation: Brain Res. 1996 May 25;722(1-2):145-52
references.pmid: 8813360
references.citation: Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2008 Nov;91(1):181-9
references.pmid: 18692521
references.citation: Brain Res. 1994 Mar 14;639(2):261-8
references.pmid: 8205480
references.citation: Psychopharmacol Bull. 2002 Winter;36(1):67-81
references.pmid: 12397848