Transcriptional characterization of cocaine withdrawal versus extinction within nucleus accumbens in male rats.

ABSTRACT: Neurobiological alterations seen in addiction amplify during abstinence and compromise relapse prevention. Cocaine use disorder (CUD) exemplifies this phenomenon in which reward regions such as nucleus accumbens (NAc) undergo withdrawal-associated modifications. While genome-wide transcriptional changes in NAc are linked to specific addiction phases, these have not been examined in a context- and NAc-subregion-specific manner during withdrawal vs. extinction. We used cocaine self-administration in male rats combined with RNA-sequencing of NAc-core and -shell to transcriptionally profile withdrawal in the home-cage, in the previous drug context, or after extinction. As expected, home-cage withdrawal maintained seeking, whereas extinction reduced it. By contrast, withdrawal involving the dru

SUBMITTER: Martinez-Rivera FJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11937236 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature