Fishberg Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA.
Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 2012 Jul;2(7):a012070. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a012070.
The study of neuronal adaptations induced by opiate drugs is particularly relevant today given their widespread prescription and nonprescription use. Although much is known about the acute actions of such drugs on the nervous system, a great deal of work remains to fully understand their chronic effects. Here, we focus on longer-lasting adaptations that occur in two catecholaminergic brain regions that mediate distinct behavioral actions of opiates: ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopaminergic neurons, important for drug reward, and locus coeruleus (LC) noradrenergic neurons, important for physical dependence and withdrawal. We focus on changes in cellular, synaptic, and structural plasticity in these brain regions that contribute to opiate dependence and addiction. Understanding the molecular determinants of this opiate-induced plasticity will be critical for the development of better treatments for opiate addiction and perhaps safer opiate drugs for medicinal use.
鉴于阿片类药物的广泛处方和非处方使用，研究阿片类药物诱导的神经元适应性在今天尤为重要。尽管人们对这类药物对神经系统的急性作用了解很多，但要完全了解它们的慢性影响仍有大量工作要做。在这里，我们重点关注两种儿茶酚胺能脑区中发生的持久适应性改变，这两种脑区介导阿片类药物的不同行为作用：腹侧被盖区（VTA）多巴胺能神经元，对药物奖赏很重要，和蓝斑（LC）去甲肾上腺素能神经元，对身体依赖和戒断很重要。我们关注这些脑区中细胞、突触和结构可塑性的变化，这些变化有助于阿片类药物依赖和成瘾。了解这种阿片类药物诱导的可塑性的分子决定因素对于开发治疗阿片类药物成瘾的更好方法以及可能更安全的用于医疗用途的阿片类药物将是至关重要的。
