International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology

BACKGROUND: Rats emit 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) in response to non-pharmacological and pharmacological stimuli, with addictive psychostimulants being the most effective drugs that elicit calling behavior in rats. Earlier investigations found that dopamine D1-like and D2-like receptors modulate the emission of 50-kHz USVs stimulated in rats by the acute administration of addictive psychostimulants. Conversely, information is lacking on how dopamine D1-like and D2-like receptors modulate calling behavior in rats that are repeatedly treated with addictive psychostimulants...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) is a hypothalamic neuropeptide that projects throughout the central nervous system, including the noradrenergic locus coeruleus (LC). Our previous study suggested that MCH/MCH receptor 1 (MCHR1) in the LC may be involved in the regulation of depression. The present study investigated whether the role of MCH/MCHR1 in the LC in depression-like behaviors is associated with the regulation of norepinephrine. METHOD: Chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) and an acute intra-LC microinjection of MCH induced depression-like behaviors in rats...

Two recent clinical trials, KetECT and ELEKT-D, compared the effectiveness of ketamine and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for major depressive disorder. Notably, these trials reported marked differences in ECT's clinical outcomes of, with remission rates of 63% for KetECT and a strikingly lower rate of 22% for ELEKT-D, while the remission rates for ketamine were 46% and 38%, respectively. Considering that the primary objective of both trials was to compare the standard treatment (ECT) with an experimental intervention (ketamine), it is crucial to highlight the pronounced disparities in ECT's clinical outcomes...

BACKGROUND: Depression is a neuropsychiatric disease with high disability rate and mainly caused by the chronic stresses or genetic factors. There is increasing evidences that miRNAs play a critical role in the pathogenesis of depression. However, the underlying molecular mechanism for the pathophysiology of depression of miRNA remains entirely unclear so far. METHODS: We first established a Chronic Social Defeat Stress (CSDS) mice model of depression, and depression-like behaviors of mice were evaluated by a series of behavioral tests...

BACKGROUND: Inflammation is implicated in the neuropathology of bipolar disorder (BD). The association of C-reactive protein (CRP) with brain structure has been examined in relation to BD among adults but not youth. METHODS: Participants included 101 youth (BD, n=55; control group [CG], n=46; aged 13-20 years). Blood samples were assayed for levels of CRP. T1-weighted brain images were acquired to obtain cortical surface area (SA), volume, and thickness for three regions of interest (ROI; whole-brain cortical gray matter, prefrontal cortex (PFC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC)) and for vertex-wise analyses...

BACKGROUND: The basal nucleus of Meynert (BNM), a primary source of cholinergic projections to the cortex, plays key roles in regulating sleep-wake cycle and attention. Sleep deficit is associated with impairment in cognitive and emotional functions. However, whether or how cholinergic circuit, sleep, cognitive/emotional dysfunction are inter-related remains unclear. METHODS: We curated the Human Connectome Project data and explored BNM resting state functional connectivities (rsFC) in relation to sleep deficit, based on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), cognitive performance, and subjective reports of emotional states in 687 young adults (342 women)...

BACKGROUND: N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) are crucial components of brain function involved in memory and neurotransmission. Sodium benzoate is a promising NMDAR enhancer and has been proven to be a novel, safe and efficient therapy for patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, in addition to the role of sodium benzoate as an NMDA enhancer, other mechanisms of sodium benzoate in treating AD are still unclear. To elucidate the potential mechanisms of sodium benzoate in Alzheimer's disease, this study employed label-free quantitative proteomics to analyze serum samples from AD cohorts with and without sodium benzoate treatment...

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the specific roles of cortical and accumbal oxytocin receptors in drug use disorder. To better understand the importance of the endogenous oxytocin system in cocaine relapse behavior, we developed an adeno-associated viral vector (AAV) expressing short hairpin (sh) RNAs to selectively degrade the rat OxyR mRNA in vivo. METHODS: Male (Sprague-Dawley) rats received bilateral infusions of the shRNA for the oxytocin receptor (shOxyR) or an shRNA control virus (shCntrl) into the prefrontal cortex (PFC) or the nucleus accumbens core (NAc)...

OBJECTIVES: The discovery of effective treatments for major depressive disorder (MDD) may help target different brain pathways. Invasive vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is an effective neuromodulation technique for the treatment of MDD; however, the effectiveness of the noninvasive technique, transauricular VNS (taVNS), remains unknown. Moreover, a mechanistic understanding of the neural effects behind its biological and therapeutic effects is lacking. This review aimed to evaluate the clinical evidence and the neural and anti-inflammatory effects of taVNS in MDD...

BACKGROUND: There is a strong link between chronic stress and vulnerability to drug abuse and addiction. Corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) is central to the stress response that contributes to continuation and relapse to heroin abuse. Chronic heroin exposure can exacerbate CRF production, leading to dysregulation of the midbrain CRF-dopamine-glutamate interaction. METHODS AND RESULTS: Here we investigated the role of midbrain CRF 1 receptors in heroin self-administration and assessed neuroplasticity in CRF1 receptor expression in key opioid addiction brain regions...

BACKGROUND: Suicidal behaviors have become a serious public health concern globally due to the economic and human cost of suicidal behavior to individuals, families, communities, and society. However, the underlying etiology and biological mechanism of suicidal behavior remains poorly understood. METHODS: We collected different single omic data, including scRNA-seq, bulk mRNA-seq, DNA methylation microarrays from the cortex of MDD with suicide subjects' studies, as well as fluoxetine-treated rats brains...

BACKGROUND: Trace amine-associated receptor-1 (TAAR1) agonists have been proposed as potential antipsychotics, with ulotaront and ralmitaront having reached clinical trials. While ulotaront demonstrated efficacy in a recent Phase II trial, a corresponding study studies of ralmitaront failed to show efficacy as a monotherapy or as an adjunct to atypical antipsychotics. In addition to TAAR1 agonism, ulotaront is a partial agonist at the serotonin 1A receptor (5-HT1AR). However, little is known about ralmitaront...

BACKGROUND: Dopamine plays a key role in several physiological functions such as motor control, learning and memory, motivation and reward. The atypical dopamine transporter inhibitor CE-158 has been recently reported to promote behavioral flexibility and restore learning and memory in aged rats. METHODS: Adult male rats were intraperitoneally administered for 1 or 10 days with CE-158 at the dose of 1 or 10 mg/kg, and tested for extracellular dopamine in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) by means of intracerebral microdialysis and single unit cell recording in the same brain area...

BACKGROUND: The high individual variability in coping with stress is often attributed to either genetic background differences, sustained environmental conditions, or a combination of both. However, the neural mechanisms underlying coping style variability are yet poorly understood. METHODS: Here we examined the impact of a single extended emotional challenge on coping style variability, and the associated involvement of the hippocampus, medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and periaqueductal gray (PAG)...

BACKGROUND: Cannabis edibles are an increasingly popular form of cannabis consumption. Oral consumption of cannabis has distinct physiological and behavioural effects than injection or inhalation. An animal model is needed to understand the pharmacokinetics and physiological effects of oral cannabis consumption in rodents as a model for human cannabis edible use. METHODS: Adult male and female C57BL/6 mice received a single dose of commercially available cannabis oil (5 mg/kg THC) by oral gavage...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Some schizophrenia patients treated with clozapine experience an inadequate response and adherence problems. The purpose of this study was to compare time to rehospitalization within 6 months in schizophrenia patients discharged on three clozapine regimens. Additionally, the temporal trend of prescription rate in each group was also explored. METHODS: Schizophrenia patients discharged from the study hospital from January 1, 2006, to December 31, 2021, (n = 3,271) were included in the analysis...

BACKGROUND: The clinical debut of schizophrenia is frequently a first episode of psychosis (FEP). As such, there is considerable interest in identifying associations between biological markers and clinical or cognitive characteristics that help predict the progression and outcome of FEP patients. Previous studies showed that high prolactin, low oxytocin and high homocysteine are factors associated with FEP 6 months after diagnosis, at which point plasma levels were correlated with some clinical and cognitive characteristics...

BACKGROUND: Although depression has been a serious neuropsychiatric disorder worldwide, current antidepressants used in clinical practice have various weaknesses including delayed onset and low rates of efficacy. Recently, the development of new antidepressants from natural herbal medicine has become one of the important research hotspots. Cucurbitacin B is a natural compound widely distributed in the Cucurbitaceae and Cruciferae families and has many pharmacological activities. The present study aimed to investigate whether cucurbitacin B possess antidepressant-like effects in mice...