Aspectos Comportamentais e Moleculares da Sensibilização Cruzada entre Estresse e Cocaina. / Behavioral and molecular aspects of the cross-sensitization between stress and cocaine

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2001

RESUMO

A potential etiologic factor in substance abuse is stress, and it is possible that chronic exposure to stressful life’s events is related to the development of drug dependence and relapse. Behavioral sensitization is defined as an augmentation of a response to a drug during repeated drug exposure. Behavioral sensitization has been shown to occur to the locomotor and reinforcing effects of cocaine, amphetamine and other drugs of abuse. It has been suggested that sensitization is the genesis of compulsive drug use. Converging evidence suggests that exposure to stress induces behavioral sensitization to psychostimulant drugs. The present study investigates behavioral and molecular aspects of the cross-sensitization between stress and cocaine. We evaluated the basal and cocaine-induced locomotor activity, corticosterone plasma levels and protein kinase cAMP-dependent (PKA) activity in animals exposed to acute or chronic predictable and unpredictable stress. Increased basal and cocaine-induced locomotor activity was observed in animals exposed to chronic predictable stress. Chronic predictable stress increased basal corticosterone levels but did not change protein kinase A activity in both accumbens and striatum. In conclusion, predictable stress produced sensitization to locomotor effects of cocaine but this effect did not correlate with changes in PKA activity.

ASSUNTO(S)

proteína. quinase dependente de ampc (pka) 5. c stress 5. corticosterone estresse cocaine sensibilização comportamental cocaína behavioral sensitization protein kinase. camp-dependent (pka)

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