Structural remodelling of microglia and dendritic spines in the Nucleus Accumbens core underlie chronic restraint stress induced cocaine sensitization

MONGI-BRAGATO, BETHANIA; AVALOS MARIA PAULA; SANCHEZ MARIANELA ADELA; GOROSTIZA AXEL E; RIGONI DAIANA; GUZMAN ANDREA SUSANA; CALFA GASTON D. ; BOLLATI FLAVIA A.; CANCELA LILIANA M

Congreso; XXXV Congreso anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias.; 2020

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias.

Clinical evidence has pointed out the development of stress induced substance use disorders. While the epidemiological relationship between stress and drug use is clear, the neurobiological mechanisms underpinning the comorbidity between stress and drug abuse have not been fully elucidated yet In animal models, exposure to stressors can elicit a sensitized response to the motor stimulating and reinforcing properties of drugs of abuse, suggesting the presence of common neurobiological substrates between drugs of abuse and stress There is now considerable evidence that behavioral sensitization is associated with neuroadaptations in the accumbens circuitry Studies from our lab showed that exposure to restraint stress engenders long lasting neuroadaptations on glutamatergic system within Nucleus Accumbens NAc which enables sensitized response to cocaine (Esparza et al 2012 García Keller et al 2013 and facilitation of cocaine self administration (García Keller et al 2016 On the other hand, our previous findings evidenced a role of glutamate in enduring psychostimulant induced sensitization at the immune level in a parallel way to that occurring in the limbic system (Assis et al 2009 2011 However, there is no description so far of which is the role played by microglia in stress induced cocaine sensitization Here we evaluate the effect of minocycline ( an inhibitor of microglia activation), on stress induced cocaine sensitization, morphological changes of microglia and NA postsynaptic structural modifications.