Enkephalin as a Pivotal Player in Neuroadaptations Related to Psychostimulant Addiction

MONGI-BRAGATO, BETHANIA; AVALOS, MARÍA P.; GUZMÁN, ANDREA S.; BOLLATI, FLAVIA A.; CANCELA, LILIANA M.

Frontiers in Psychiatry

Frontiers

Año: 2018 vol. 9

nkephalin expression is high in mesocorticolimbic areas associated withpsychostimulant-induced behavioral and neurobiological effects, and may alsomodulate local neurotransmission in this circuit network. Psychostimulant drugs, likeamphetamine and cocaine, significantly increase the content of enkephalin in these brainstructures, but we do not yet understand the specific significance of this drug-inducedadaptation. In this review, we summarize the neurochemical and molecular mechanismof psychostimulant-induced enkephalin activation in mesocorticolimbic brain areas, andthe contribution of this opioid peptide in the pivotal neuroadaptations and long-termbehavioral changes underlying psychostimulant addiction. There is evidence suggestingthat adaptive changes in enkephalin content in the mesocorticolimbic circuit, inducedby acute and chronic psychostimulant administration, may represent a key initial step inthe long-term behavioral and neuronal plasticity induced by these drugs.