Wong Katrina, Wang Ziheng Christina, Patarino Makenzie, Baskin Britahny, Lee Suhjung Janet, Schindler Abigail G
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA 98195.
VA Northwest Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, WA 98108, USA.
Addict Neurosci. 2023 May 5;7. doi: 10.1016/j.addicn.2023.100101.
Despite impressive results from neuroscience research using rodent models, there is a paucity of successful translation from preclinical findings to effective pharmacological interventions for treatment of substance use disorder (SUD) in humans. One potential reason for lack of translation from animal models is difficulty in accurately replicating the lived experience of people who use drugs. Aspects of substance use in humans that are often not modeled in animal research include but are not limited to 1) voluntary timing and frequency of substance intake, 2) social environment during substance use, and 3) access to multiple substances and multiple concentrations of each substance. Critically, existing commercial equipment that allows for social housing and voluntary polysubstance use (e.g., home cage monitoring system) is prohibitively expensive and no open-source solutions exist. With these goals in mind, here we detail development of the Socially Integrated Polysubstance (SIP) system, an open-source and lower cost solution that allows for group housed rodents to self-administer multiple substances with continuous monitoring and measurement. In our current setup, each SIP cage contains four drinking stations, and each station is equipped with a RFID sensor and sipper tube connected to a unique fluid reservoir. Using this system, we can track which animal (implanted with unique RFID transponder) visits which drinking location and the amount they drink during each visit (in 20 ul increments). Using four flavors of Kool-Aid, here we demonstrate that the SIP system is reliable and accurate with high temporal resolution for long term monitoring of substance intake and behavior tracking in a social environment. The SIP cage system is a first step towards designing an accessible and flexible rodent model of substance use that more closely resembles the experience of people who use drugs.
尽管使用啮齿动物模型进行的神经科学研究取得了令人瞩目的成果，但从临床前研究结果到用于治疗人类物质使用障碍（SUD）的有效药物干预措施的成功转化却很少。动物模型缺乏转化的一个潜在原因是难以准确复制吸毒者的实际生活体验。在动物研究中通常未被建模的人类物质使用方面包括但不限于：1）物质摄入的自愿时间和频率；2）物质使用期间的社会环境；3）获取多种物质以及每种物质的多种浓度。至关重要的是，现有的允许群居和自愿多物质使用的商业设备（例如，家笼监测系统）价格高得令人望而却步，并且不存在开源解决方案。出于这些目标，在此我们详细介绍社会整合多物质（SIP）系统的开发，这是一种开源且成本较低的解决方案，它允许群居啮齿动物自我给药多种物质，并进行持续监测和测量。在我们当前的设置中，每个SIP笼包含四个饮水站，每个站都配备有一个射频识别（RFID）传感器和连接到独特储液器的吸管。使用这个系统，我们可以追踪哪只动物（植入了独特的RFID应答器）访问了哪个饮水位置以及它们每次访问时的饮水量（以20微升为增量）。使用四种口味的酷爱饮料，在此我们证明SIP系统在社会环境中对物质摄入和行为追踪的长期监测具有高时间分辨率，是可靠且准确的。SIP笼系统是朝着设计一种更接近吸毒者体验的可及且灵活的啮齿动物物质使用模型迈出的第一步。
