Region-specific contribution of the ventral tegmental area to heroin-induced conditioned immunomodulation.
Dopamine receptor stimulation is critical for heroin-conditioned immunomodulation; however, it is unclear whether the ventral tegmental area (VTA) contributes to this phenomenon. Hence, rats received repeated pairings of heroin with placement into a distinct environmental context. At test, they were re-exposed to the previously heroin-paired environment followed by systemic lipopolysaccharide treatment to induce an immune response. Bilateral GABA agonist-induced neural inactivation of the anterior, but not the posterior VTA, prior to context re-exposure inhibited the ability of the heroin-paired environment to suppress peripheral nitric oxide and tumor necrosis factor-α expression, suggesting a role for the anterior VTA in heroin-conditioned immunomodulation.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Psychology, CB#3270, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3270, USA.
Lee W
LW
Hutson
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Psychology, CB#3270, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3270, USA.
Jennifer L
JL
Szczytkowski
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Psychology, CB#3270, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3270, USA.
Timothy B
TB
Saurer
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Psychology, CB#3270, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3270, USA.
Christina
C
Lebonville
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Psychology, CB#3270, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3270, USA.
Rita A
RA
Fuchs
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Psychology, CB#3270, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3270, USA. Electronic address: dlysle@email.unc.edu.
Donald T
DT
Lysle
D000818:Animals; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects; D003932:Heroin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007155:Immunologic Factors / Q000494:pharmacology; D056747:Immunomodulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D009294:Narcotics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D017557:Ventral Tegmental Area / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology*
D007155:Immunologic Factors; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D009294:Narcotics; D003932:Heroin
Conditioning; Heroin; Nitric oxide; TNF-α; Ventral tegmental area