In: European Neuropsychopharmacology, 2020, vol. 37, p. 70–81
Recent studies have shown that Lethal-7 (let-7) microRNA (miRNA) is involved in a wide range of psychiatric disorders such as anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, and cocaine addiction. However, the exact role of let-7d miRNA in regulating ethanol intake and preference remains to be elucidated. The aim of the present study was to clarify the role of accumbal let-7d in controlling...
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In: Psychopharmacology, 2019, p. -
During the last few decades, alcohol use disorders (AUD) have reached an epidemic prevalence, yet social influences on alcoholism have not been fully addressed. Several factors can modulate alcohol intake. On one hand, stress can reinforce ethanol-induced behaviors and be an important component in AUD and alcoholism. On the other hand, environmental enrichment (EE) has a neuroprotective role...
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In: Psychopharmacology, 2019, vol. 236, no. 4, p. 1349–1365
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In: Behavioural Brain Research, 2019, vol. 359, p. 104–115
Many epidemiological and clinical studies have demonstrated a strong comorbidity between anxiety and depression, and a number of experimental studies indicates that the dopamine transporter (DAT) is involved in the pathophysiology of anxiety and depression. However, studies using laboratory animals have yielded inconclusive results. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of...
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In: European Neuropsychopharmacology, 2018, vol. 28, no. 12, p. 1394–1404
Generalized anxiety and major depression disorders (MDD) are severe debilitating mood disorders whose etiology are not fully understood, but growing evidence indicates that microRNAs (miRNAs) might play a key role in their neuropathophysiological mechanisms. In the current study, we investigate the role of Lethal-7 (let-7d) miRNA, and its direct target dopamine D3 receptor (D3R) gain-of-...
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In: Psychopharmacology, 2017, p. 1–12
Myelin Transcription Factor 1 (MyT1), a member of the Zinc Finger gene family, plays a fundamental role in the nervous system. Recent research has suggested that this transcription factor is associated with the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders including addiction, schizophrenia, and depression. However, the role of MyT1 in anxiety- and ethanol-related behaviors is still...
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In: Neuropharmacology, 2015, vol. 89, p. 398–411
Microdialysis during i.v. drug self-administration (SA) have implicated nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell DA in cocaine and heroin reinforcement. However, this correlative evidence has not been yet substantiated by experimental evidence obtained by studying the effect of selective manipulation of NAc shell DA transmission on cocaine and heroin SA. In order to investigate this issue, DA D1a receptor...
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In: Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 2014, vol. 38, no. 9, p. 2369–2376
Background: It has been reported that dopamine D3 receptor (D3R) knockout mice display similar ethanol (EtOH) consumption compared to wild types. In addition, studies with D3R pharmacological targeting were inconclusive.Methods: In the current study, we used both gain- and loss-of-function approaches to test the effects of central D3R manipulation on voluntary alcohol intake and EtOH-induced...
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In: The Journal of Neuroscience, 2014, vol. 34, no. 23, p. 7899–7909
Drug administration to avoid unpleasant drug withdrawal symptoms has been hypothesized to be a crucial factor that leads to compulsive drug-taking behavior. However, the neural relationship between the aversive motivational state produced by drug withdrawal and the development of the drug-dependent state still remains elusive. It has been observed that chronic exposure to drugs of abuse increases...
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In: Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2014, vol. 46, p. 78–87
Several lines of evidences suggest that the brain-derived neutrophic factor (BDNF) is implicated in the pathophysiology of depression. However, the molecular mechanisms are not fully understood. In the current study we aimed to investigate how genetic modulation of BDNF in the hippocampus using microRNa124a (miR124a)-expressing lentiviral vectors (LV) might affect depression-like behavior in...
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