N-acetylcysteine facilitates extinction of cued fear memory in rats via reestablishing basolateral amygdala glutathione homeostasis.

ABSTRACT: Individual differences in the development of uncontrollable fear in response to traumatic stressors have been observed in clinic, but the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. In the present study we first conducted a meta-analysis of published clinical data and found that malondialdehyde, an oxidative stress biomarker, was significantly elevated in the blood of patients with fear-related anxiety disorders. We then carried out experimental study in rats subjected to fear conditioning. We showed that reestablishing redox homeostasis in basolateral amygdale (BLA) after exposure to fear stressors determined the capacity of learned fear inhibition. Intra-BLA infusion of buthionine sulfoximine (BSO) to deplete the most important endogenous antioxidant glutathione (GSH) blocked fear extinction,

SUBMITTER: Wu PF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8791957 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature