The selective D3-Receptor antagonist VK4-116 effectively treats behavioral inflexibility in rats caused by self-administration and withdrawal from cocaine.

ABSTRACT: Chronic psychostimulant use can cause long lasting changes to neural and cognitive function that persist even after long periods of abstinence. As cocaine users transition from drug use to abstinence, a parallel transition from hyperactivity to hypoactivity has been found in orbitofrontal-striatal glucose metabolism, and striatal D2/D3 receptor activity. Targeting these changes pharmacologically, using highly selective dopamine D3 receptor (D ₃ R) antagonists and partial agonists, has shown significant promise in reducing drug-taking, and attenuating relapse in animal models of cocaine and opioid use disorder. However, much less attention has been focused on treating inflexible and potentially maladaptive non-drug behaviors following chronic psychostimulant use. Here we tested t

SUBMITTER: Panayi MC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10508727 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature