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. 2016 Sep 12:10:173.
doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2016.00173. eCollection 2016.

Stress-Induced Locomotor Sensitization to Amphetamine in Adult, but not in Adolescent Rats, Is Associated with Increased Expression of ΔFosB in the Nucleus Accumbens

Paulo E Carneiro de Oliveira  1 , Rodrigo M Leão  1 , Paula C Bianchi  2 , Marcelo T Marin  2 , Cleopatra da Silva Planeta  2 , Fábio C Cruz  1
Affiliations

Stress-Induced Locomotor Sensitization to Amphetamine in Adult, but not in Adolescent Rats, Is Associated with Increased Expression of ΔFosB in the Nucleus Accumbens

Paulo E Carneiro de Oliveira et al. Front Behav Neurosci. .

Abstract

While clinical and pre-clinical evidence suggests that adolescence is a risk period for the development of addiction, the underlying neural mechanisms are largely unknown. Stress during adolescence has a huge influence on drug addiction. However, little is known about the mechanisms related to the interaction among stress, adolescence and addiction. Studies point to ΔFosB as a possible _target for this phenomenon. In the present study, adolescent and adult rats (postnatal day 28 and 60, respectively) were restrained for 2 h once a day for 7 days. Three days after their last exposure to stress, the animals were challenged with saline or amphetamine (1.0 mg/kg i.p.) and amphetamine-induced locomotion was recorded. Immediately after the behavioral tests, rats were decapitated and the nucleus accumbens was dissected to measure ΔFosB protein levels. We found that repeated restraint stress increased amphetamine-induced locomotion in both the adult and adolescent rats. Furthermore, in adult rats, stress-induced locomotor sensitization was associated with increased expression of ΔFosB in the nucleus accumbens. Our data suggest that ΔFosB may be involved in some of the neuronal plasticity changes associated with stress induced-cross sensitization with amphetamine in adult rats.

Keywords: adolescence; amphetamine; behavioral sensitization; stress; ΔFosB.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Cross-sensitization between stress and amphetamine in adult and adolescent rats. *p < 0.05 compared to CONTROL-SALINE and STRESS-SALINE; #p < 0.05 compared to CONTROL-AMPHETAMINE.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(A) Schematic section of the rat brain, adapted from the stereotaxic atlas of Paxinos and Watson (2006), showing the location of the punches in the nucleus accumbens (Nac). (B) Representative western blotting bands of control-saline (CONT-SAL), stress-saline (STRESS-SAL), control-amphetamine (CONT-AMPH) and stress-amphetamine (STRESS-AMPH) adult animals. (C) ΔFosB levels in response to amphetamine (1.0 mg/kg) or saline after repeated stress exposure in the nucleus accumbens of adult and adolescent rats. The bars represent mean ± SEM of 6–9 animals per group. *p < 0.05 different than other groups.
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