Addictive drug abuse and depression-a focus on epigenetics.

ABSTRACT: The global rise in addictive drug use has become a major public health concern, increasingly linked to the development of depression-a psychiatric disorder affecting over 300 million people worldwide. Emerging evidence indicates that chronic exposure to addictive substances can induce or exacerbate depressive symptoms through reward circuitry alterations, neuroinflammation, altered hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis function, and mitochondrial dysfunction, thereby establishing a neurobiological milieu that favors drug induced depressive states. This review summarizes how epigenetic mechanisms, such as DNA methylation, histone modifications, non-coding RNAs and RNA modifications, convey the enduring effects of addictive drugs on gene expression related to mood regulation, stress response,

SUBMITTER: Zhang W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12924788 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature