Ahmadi-Soleimani S Mohammad, Salmanzadeh Hamed, Azizi Hossein
Departments of Physiology, Neuroscience Research Center, School of Medicine, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran.
TJ Long School of Pharmacy, University of the Pacific, Stockton, The United States.
Basic Clin Neurosci. 2024 Jan-Feb;15(1):27-36. doi: 10.32598/bcn.2023.587.1. Epub 2024 Jan 1.
Growing evidence indicates that adolescent substance abuse is now an alarming concern that imposes a considerable socio-economic burden on societies. On the other hand, numerous studies have shown that due to specific neurophysiological features, the brain is more vulnerable to the adverse effects of psychoactive drugs at an early age. Unfortunately, these negative effects are not limited to the period of drug use, but can persistently affect the brain's responsiveness to future exposures to the same or other types of drug. For researchers to develop pharmacological strategies for managing substance abuse disorders, they need to gain a deep understanding of the differences in behavioral outcomes associated with each type of drug across different age groups. The present study was conducted to review the experimental evidence revealing the mentioned differential effects with an emphasis on common drugs of abuse, including cocaine, nicotine, cannabis, and opioids. Although the cellular mechanisms underlying age-related effects have not been exclusively addressed for each drug, the most recent results are presented and discussed. Future studies are required to focus on these mechanisms and reveal how molecular changes during brain development can result in differential responses to drugs at the behavioral level.
越来越多的证据表明，青少年药物滥用如今已成为一个令人担忧的问题，给社会带来了相当大的社会经济负担。另一方面，大量研究表明，由于特定的神经生理特征，大脑在幼年时更容易受到精神活性药物的不良影响。不幸的是，这些负面影响不仅限于药物使用期间，还会持续影响大脑对未来接触相同或其他类型药物的反应。为了让研究人员制定管理药物滥用障碍的药理学策略，他们需要深入了解不同年龄组中与每种药物相关的行为结果差异。本研究旨在回顾揭示上述差异效应的实验证据，重点关注常见的滥用药物，包括可卡因、尼古丁、大麻和阿片类药物。尽管尚未针对每种药物专门探讨与年龄相关效应的细胞机制，但本文展示并讨论了最新的研究结果。未来的研究需要聚焦于这些机制，并揭示大脑发育过程中的分子变化如何在行为层面导致对药物的不同反应。
