OXYTOCIN AND ADDICTION: A REVIEW
Section snippets
INTRODUCTION
In the last 25 years there has been a great increase in interest in central nervous system (CNS) functions of neuroactive peptides (Hökfelt, 1991). Neuropeptides may function as neurotransmitters as well as neuromodulators. Neurotransmitters are localized in nerve terminals, preferentially in synaptic vesicles. They are released upon nerve stimulation, interact with receptor molecules on the postsynaptic cell membrane, and are subsequently inactivated by enzymatic degradation and re-uptake
The Effects of Oxytocin on Opiate Tolerance
In recent years it has become increasingly evident that neurohypophyseal neuropeptides (OXT and vasopressin, VP) might play a role in drug addiction processes (Kovács, 1986, Kovács and Telegdy, 1987b, Krivoy et al., 1974, Van Ree, 1983). For example, desglycinamide9-lysine8-vasopressin (DG-LVP) facilitated the rate at which tolerance to morphine-induced analgesia developed in mice (Krivoy et al., 1974, Van Ree and De Wied, 1977b). Van Ree and De Wied (1977a), Van Ree and De Wied (1977b)found
OXYTOCIN AND COCAINE ABUSE
Cocaine is a psychostimulant, which acts primarily through the brain dopaminergic system as an inhibitor of the dopamine transporter, thus resulting in an increase in synaptic dopamine content (Galloway, 1988, Koob et al., 1997). Locomotor hyperactivity, exploratory hyperactivity and stereotyped behavior were investigated as acute behavioral responses to cocaine. Two types of behavioral adaptation to repeated cocaine administration, sensitization and tolerance were chosen to study the
Oxytocin and Ethanol Tolerance
In the CNS, ethanol tolerance appears to be a combined process with both behavioral and cellular components. Tolerance to ethanol has been shown to involve learning. Some forms of tolerance are dependent on learning. The animals display tolerance only in the environment where ethanol was initially presented and not in a novel environment.
Development of rapid tolerance to the hypothermic effect of ethanol has been proposed as a reliable model for investigating the above phenomenon. Peripheral
CONCLUSIONS
Recent results from our laboratories (Kovács, 1986Sarnyai and Kovács 1994), and other laboratories (Krivoy et al., 1974, Van Ree, 1983, Van Ree and De Wied, 1977a, Van Ree and De Wied, 1977b) suggest that neurohypophyseal neuropeptides modulate the response to drugs of abuse. In the case of OXT, adaptive components of drug addiction are affected primarily: the neuropeptide inhibits the development of tolerance to, and physical dependence on, morphine and reduces the self-administration of
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