Neuroinflammatory history results in overlapping transcriptional signatures with heroin exposure in the nucleus accumbens and alters responsiveness to heroin in male rats.

ABSTRACT: Recent progress in psychiatric research has highlighted neuroinflammation in the pathophysiology of opioid use disorder (OUD), suggesting that heightened immune responses in the brain may exacerbate opioid-related mechanisms. However, the molecular mechanisms resulting from neuroinflammation that impact opioid-induced behaviors and transcriptional pathways remain poorly understood. In this study, we have begun to address this critical knowledge gap by exploring the intersection between neuroinflammation and exposure to the opioid heroin, utilizing lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced neuroinflammation, to investigate transcriptional changes in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), an essential region in the mesolimbic dopamine system that mediates opioid reward. By integrating RNA sequencing with bioin

SUBMITTER: Floris G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11659471 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature