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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences
Role Of Medial Prefrontal Cortical Group Ii Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor In The Development Of Cocaine Sensitization, Xiaohu Xie
Theses and Dissertations (ETD)
The current studies examined the role of medial prefrontal cortical (mPFC) group II metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR2/3) in the development of cocaine sensitization. Initial studies demonstrated that intra-mPFC injection of the mGluR2/3 receptor agonist, APDC, dose-dependently reduced acute behavioral response to cocaine (0.015-15 nmol/side with significant effects starting at 1.5nmol/side). The effects of APDC were prevented by intra-mPFC co-injections of an mGluR2/3 antagonist, LY341495 (1.5 nmol/side). Repeated intra-mPFC APDC (1.5 nmol/side) injections also prevented the initiation of behavioral and neurochemical sensitization, which is defined as enhanced nucleus accumbens (NAc) dopamine response to cocaine. Once sensitization was …
Neuroadaptive Changes In The Mesocortical Glutamatergic System During Nicotine Self-Administration And After Extinction In Rats, Fan Wang
Theses and Dissertations (ETD)
The mesocorticolimbic pathway is critical in almost all aspects of drug abuse, including nicotine. Though many of the neurochemical and molecular effects of nicotine have been well studied, nicotine’s long-term neuroadaptive effects, specifically within the mesocorticolimbic pathway, are largely undefined. Thus, in current study, we determined the neuroadaptive changes in the mesocortical glutamatergic system during chronic nicotine self-administration (SA), which emulates important aspects of nicotine intake by humans, and after extinction. In the initial study, after 18 days of nicotine SA, in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), NMDA receptor subunit 2A (NR2A) and NR2B were increased by 67% and 83%, …