DOI: 10.5176/2251-1865_CBP18.68
Authors: Yingjie Zhu
Abstract: Opioids are commonly prescribed to treat pain. However, chronic opioid use also cause physical dependency and addiction[1]. Opioid addiction is characterized by severe withdrawal symptoms when drug use is terminated. Avoiding withdrawal symptoms is an important motivational drive to continued drug use and relapse[2]. Recently, a glutermatergic projection from paraventricular nucleus of thalamus (PVT) to nucleus accumbens (NAc) was identified to mediate opiate withdrawal[3]. However, the involvement of PVT in aversive behavior and opiate withdrawal remains unknown. By using in vivo electrophysiology and optogenetics, we found that PVT was activated by a variety of aversive stimuli including tail pinch and opiate withdrawal. Furthermore, optogenetic inhibition of PVT robustly suppressed opiate withdrawal symptoms. Those results highlight the importance of PVT in processing aversive stimuli and particularly in opiate withdrawal.
Keywords: opioid addiction, opiate withdrawal, paraventricular nucleus of thalamus, neural circuit
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