Document Type
Article
Language
eng
Publication Date
4-2020
Publisher
American College of Neuropsychopharmacology
Source Publication
Neuropsychopharmacology
Source ISSN
0893-133x
Abstract
Clinical reports suggest that females diagnosed with substance use disorder experience enhanced relapse vulnerability compared with males, particularly during stress. We previously demonstrated that a stressor (footshock) can potentiate cocaine seeking in male rats via glucocorticoid-dependent cannabinoid type-1 receptor (CB1R)-mediated actions in the prelimbic prefrontal cortex (PrL-PFC). Here, we investigated the influence of biological sex on stress-potentiated cocaine seeking. Despite comparable self-administration and extinction, females displayed a lower threshold for cocaine-primed reinstatement than males. Unlike males, footshock, tested across a range of intensities, failed to potentiate cocaine-primed reinstatement in females. However, restraint potentiated reinstatement in both sexes. While sex differences in stressor-induced plasma corticosterone (CORT) elevations and defensive behaviors were not observed, differences were evident in footshock-elicited ultrasonic vocalizations. CORT administration, at a dose which recapitulates stressor-induced plasma levels, reproduced stress-potentiated cocaine-primed reinstatement in both sexes. In females, CORT effects varied across the estrous cycle; CORT-potentiated reinstatement was only observed during diestrus and proestrus. As in males, CORT-potentiated cocaine seeking in females was localized to the PrL-PFC and both CORT- and restraint-potentiated cocaine seeking required PrL-PFC CB1R activation. In addition, ex vivo whole-cell electrophysiological recordings from female layer V PrL-PFC pyramidal neurons revealed CB1R-dependent CORT-induced suppression of inhibitory synaptic activity, as previously observed in males. These findings demonstrate that, while stress potentiates cocaine seeking via PrL-PFC CB1R in both sexes, sensitivity to cocaine priming injections is greater in females, CORT-potentiating effects vary with the estrous cycle, and whether reactivity to specific stressors may manifest as drug seeking depends on biological sex.
Recommended Citation
Doncheck, Elizabeth M.; Liddiard, Gage T.; Konrath, Chaz D.; Liu, Xiaojie; Yu, Laikang; Urbanik, Luke A.; Herbst, Matthew R.; DeBaker, Margot C.; Raddatz, Nicholas J.; Van Newenhizen, Erik C.; Mathy, Jacob; Gilmartin, Marieke R.; Liu, Qing-Song; Hillard, Cecilia J.; and Mantsch, John, "Sex, Stress, and Prefrontal Cortex: Influence of Biological Sex on Stress-Promoted Cocaine Seeking" (2020). Biomedical Sciences Faculty Research and Publications. 201.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/biomedsci_fac/201
Comments
Accepted version. Neuropsychopharmacology, Vol. 45, No. 17 (April, 2020): 1974-1985. DOI. © 2020 The American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. Used with permission.