title: Glutamatergic neuroplasticity in cocaine addiction.
abstract: Neuroadaptations among glutamatergic projections within the mesocorticolimbic circuits engaged by drugs of abuse have been described since the 1990s. There is now substantial evidence that drugs of abuse lead to long-term changes in glutamatergic signaling and encompass multiple levels of analysis. For example, cocaine induces changes in extracellular glutamate concentrations and in synaptic glutamatergic transmission. In addition, glutamate receptors are required for the expression of cocaine-related behaviors, and long-term changes have been reported in the expression of proteins at glutamatergic synapses, in glutamate-related redox regulation of neurons, and in glutamatergic synaptic and structural plasticity following chronic exposure to cocaine. In this chapter, we will describe the neurocircuitry involved, and will summarize evidence for adaptations in glutamatergic neuroplasticity as a mechanism for cocaine addiction. Finally, we will discuss progress in the development of glutamate-mediated pharmacotherapies for the treatment of cocaine dependence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Molecular Pharmacology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Joachim D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Uys
authors.forename: Kathryn J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Reissner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D006706:Homeostasis; D006801:Humans; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000503:physiopathology; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction
chemical_list: D018698:Glutamic Acid