Adermark Louise, Bowers M Scott
Addiction Biology Unit , Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Department of Psychiatry , Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia.
Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2016 Sep;40(9):1802-16. doi: 10.1111/acer.13168. Epub 2016 Aug 1.
Several laboratories recently identified that astrocytes are critical regulators of addiction machinery. It is now known that astrocyte pathology is a common feature of ethanol (EtOH) exposure in both humans and animal models, as even brief EtOH exposure is sufficient to elicit long-lasting perturbations in astrocyte gene expression, activity, and proliferation. Astrocytes were also recently shown to modulate the motivational properties of EtOH and other strongly reinforcing stimuli. Given the role of astrocytes in regulating glutamate homeostasis, a crucial component of alcohol use disorder (AUD), astrocytes might be an important target for the development of next-generation alcoholism treatments. This review will outline some of the more prominent features displayed by astrocytes, how these properties are influenced by acute and long-term EtOH exposure, and future directions that may help to disentangle astrocytic from neuronal functions in the etiology of AUD.
最近，多个实验室发现星形胶质细胞是成瘾机制的关键调节因子。现在已知，星形胶质细胞病变是人类和动物模型中乙醇（EtOH）暴露的一个共同特征，因为即使是短暂的EtOH暴露也足以引发星形胶质细胞基因表达、活性和增殖的长期扰动。最近还发现，星形胶质细胞可调节EtOH和其他强强化刺激的动机特性。鉴于星形胶质细胞在调节谷氨酸稳态（酒精使用障碍（AUD）的一个关键组成部分）中的作用，星形胶质细胞可能是下一代酒精中毒治疗药物开发的重要靶点。本综述将概述星形胶质细胞表现出的一些更显著特征、这些特性如何受到急性和长期EtOH暴露的影响，以及未来可能有助于在AUD病因学中区分星形胶质细胞与神经元功能的方向。
