Diazepam attenuates the effects of cocaine on locomotion, 50‐kHz ultrasonic vocalizations and phasic dopamine in the nucleus accumbens of rats

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
William N. Sanchez ◽  
Jose A. Pochapski ◽  
Leticia F. Jessen ◽  
Marek Ellenberger ◽  
Rainer K. Schwarting ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nucleus Accumbens ◽  
Ultrasonic Vocalizations

scholarly journals Diazepam attenuates the effects of cocaine on locomotion, 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations and phasic dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens of rats

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
William N. Sanchez ◽  
Jose A. Pochapski ◽  
Leticia F. Jessen ◽  
Marek Ellenberger ◽  
Rainer K. Schwarting ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Locomotor Activity ◽  
Nucleus Accumbens ◽  
Dopamine Release ◽  
Ultrasonic Vocalizations ◽  
Control Group ◽  
List Type ◽  
Adult Rats ◽  
Fast Scan Cyclic Voltammetry ◽  
Entire Duration ◽  
Male Wistar Rats

AbstractBackground and PurposeCurrently, no effective drug exists to treat cocaine use disorders, which affect millions of people worldwide. Benzodiazepines are potential therapeutic candidates, as microdialysis and voltammetry studies have shown that they can decrease dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens of rodents. In addition, we have recently shown that diazepam blocks the increase in dopamine release and the affective marker 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations (USV) induced by DL-amphetamine in rats.Experimental ApproachHere we tested whether administration of 2.5 mg·kg−1 diazepam (i.p.) in adult male Wistar rats could block the effects of 20 mg·kg−1 cocaine (i.p.) on electrically evoked phasic dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens measured by fast-scan cyclic voltammetry, as well as 50-kHz USV and locomotor activity.Key ResultsCocaine injection increased evoked dopamine release up to 3-fold within 5 min and the increase was significantly higher than baseline for at least 90 min. The injection of diazepam 15 min later attenuated the cocaine effect by nearly 50% and this attenuation was maintained for at least 30 min. Stimulant drugs, natural rewards and reward predictive cues are known to evoke 50-kHz USV in adult rats. In the present study, cocaine increased the number of 50-kHz USV of the flat, step, trill, and mixed kinds by 12-fold. This effect was at maximum 5 min after cocaine injection, decreased with time and lasted at least 40 min. Diazepam significantly blocked this effect for the entire duration of the session. The distance travelled by control rats during a 40-min session of exploration in an open field was at maximum in the first 5 min and decayed progressively until the end of the session. Cocaine-treated rats travelled significantly longer distances when compared to the control group, while diazepam significantly attenuated cocaine-induced locomotion by up to 50%.Conclusions and implicationThese results suggest that the neurochemical, affective, and stimulant effects of cocaine can be mitigated by diazepam.What is already knownDiazepam decreases dopamine release in the rodent nucleus accumbens (NAc) and reduces some effects produced by DL-amphetamine.What this study addsDiazepam attenuated the increase in phasic dopamine release caused by cocaine.Diazepam blocked the effect of cocaine on 50-kHz USV and locomotor activity.Clinical significanceThis study demonstrates that diazepam can block specific effects of cocaine that likely contribute to addiction.

scholarly journals Nucleus Accumbens Chemogenetic Inhibition Suppresses Amphetamine-Induced Ultrasonic Vocalizations in Male and Female Rats

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1255
Author(s):  
Kate A. Lawson ◽  
Abigail Y. Flores ◽  
Rachael E. Hokenson ◽  
Christina M. Ruiz ◽  
Stephen V. Mahler
Keyword(s):  
Nucleus Accumbens ◽  
Subjective Effects ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Ultrasonic Vocalizations ◽  
Designer Drugs ◽  
Female Rats ◽  
Affective States ◽  
Adult Rats ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Male And Female Rats

Adult rats emit ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) related to their affective states, potentially providing information about their subjective experiences during behavioral neuroscience experiments. If so, USVs might provide an important link between invasive animal preclinical studies and human studies in which subjective states can be readily queried. Here, we induced USVs in male and female Long Evans rats using acute amphetamine (2 mg/kg), and asked how reversibly inhibiting nucleus accumbens neurons using designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADDs) impacts USV production. We analyzed USV characteristics using “Deepsqueak” software, and manually categorized detected calls into four previously defined subtypes. We found that systemic administration of the DREADD agonist clozapine-n-oxide, relative to vehicle in the same rats, suppressed the number of frequency-modulated and trill-containing USVs without impacting high frequency, unmodulated (flat) USVs, nor the small number of low-frequency USVs observed. Using chemogenetics, these results thus confirm that nucleus accumbens neurons are essential for production of amphetamine-induced frequency-modulated USVs. They also support the premise of further investigating the characteristics and subcategories of these calls as a window into the subjective effects of neural manipulations, with potential future clinical applications.

Nucleus accumbens amphetamine microinjections unconditionally elicit 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations in rats.

2001 ◽  
Vol 115 (4) ◽  
pp. 940-944 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Burgdorf ◽  
Brian Knutson ◽  
Jaak Panksepp ◽  
Satoshi Ikemoto
Keyword(s):  
Nucleus Accumbens ◽  
Ultrasonic Vocalizations

scholarly journals Phasic Dopamine Release in the Nucleus Accumbens in Response to Pro-Social 50 kHz Ultrasonic Vocalizations in Rats

2014 ◽  
Vol 34 (32) ◽  
pp. 10616-10623 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Willuhn ◽  
A. Tose ◽  
M. J. Wanat ◽  
A. S. Hart ◽  
N. G. Hollon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nucleus Accumbens ◽  
Dopamine Release ◽  
Ultrasonic Vocalizations

scholarly journals Decreased approach behavior and nucleus accumbens immediate early gene expression in response to Parkinsonian ultrasonic vocalizations in rats

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 365-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua D. Pultorak ◽  
Cynthia A. Kelm-Nelson ◽  
Lauren R. Holt ◽  
Katherine V. Blue ◽  
Michelle R. Ciucci ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Nucleus Accumbens ◽  
Immediate Early Gene ◽  
Ultrasonic Vocalizations ◽  
Early Gene ◽  
Immediate Early ◽  
Approach Behavior ◽  
Early Gene Expression

Tickling increases dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens and 50 kHz ultrasonic vocalizations in adolescent rats

Neuroreport ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 241-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miyo Hori ◽  
Rie Shimoju ◽  
Ryota Tokunaga ◽  
Masato Ohkubo ◽  
Shigeki Miyabe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nucleus Accumbens ◽  
Dopamine Release ◽  
Ultrasonic Vocalizations ◽  
Adolescent Rats

Phasic dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens in response to ultrasonic vocalizations serving a pro-social communicative function in rats

2013 ◽  
Vol 46 (06) ◽  
Author(s):  
M Wöhr ◽  
A Tose ◽  
MJ Wanat ◽  
AS Hart ◽  
NG Hollon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nucleus Accumbens ◽  
Dopamine Release ◽  
Ultrasonic Vocalizations ◽  
Communicative Function ◽  
Social Communicative
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