The mu-opioid receptors in the ventral tegmental area contribute to the high heroin preference shown by Marchigian Sardinian alcohol-preferring rats
Hela Mrizak, Laura Rullo, Manthoula Olga Kyratzi, Veronica Lunerti, Alessandra Mammone, Hongwu Li, Roberto Ciccocioppo, Esi Domi, Amy Lasek, Patrizia Romualdi, Nazzareno Cannella · FENS Forum 2024
Genetically selected Marchigian Sardinian alcohol-preferring (msP) rats exhibit a dysregulation of the opioid system in several brain areas and show innate psychiatric traits comorbid with drug abuse. Therefore, we hypothesized that, similar to alcohol, msP would display increased preference for heroin compared to non-preferring Wistar controls. Thus, we compared the heroin self-administration (HSA) dose/response (1, 7, 20, 60 µg/infusion) curves of msP and Wistar rats under fixed-ratio 1(FR1) and progressive ratio (PR) contingencies. Male msP rats, showed increased HSA at intermediate doses u
ePoster · Neuroscience