Neurochemistry and Neuropharmacology
Author: Abraham Ramirez | email: abrahamrami477@gmail.com
Abraham Ramirez 2°, Martin Yoldjian 1°, Alejandrina Funes 1°, Cintia Konjuh 1°, Alejandra Pacchioni 2°
1° Laboratorio de Toxicología Experimental – Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas -Universidad Nacional de Rosario
2° CONICET-CCT Rosario
Cocaine use disorder is a chronic disease characterized by the loss of control over drug-seeking and taking. It has been hypothesized that the transition between social use and loss of control is mainly associated with vulnerable users. Such susceptibility depends on environmental and biological factors. Our group is focused on understanding the role of Social Isolation (SI) and sex, as environmental and biological factors respectively, in the vulnerability to cocaine in rats. Furthermore, we are interested in evaluating the role of the Wnt canonical pathway by measuring the levels of b-catenin in brain areas. Recently, we showed that 5 days of SI from postnatal days (PND) 30 to 35 decrease b-catenin levels in Prefrontal Cortex (PFC); and increase cocaine response in adult male rats. In the present study, we evaluate if 5 days of SI (PND30-35) would induce cocaine sensitization on PND45 as well as changes on b-catenin levels in PFC, in female and male rats. Our results showed that SI induced cocaine (5mg/kg i.p.) sensitization only in male rats (p<0,05). Also, isolated males displayed lower exploratory response (p<0,05) and higher anxiety levels (p<0,05) than control. In contrast, female rats showed similar cocaine responses regardless previous SI exposure. Moreover, levels of b-catenin in PFC will be analyzed. Our working hypothesis is that SI increases cocaine vulnerability by decreasing the activity of the Wnt canonical pathway in PFC in a sex specific manner.