Descripción del proyecto
IN THE PRESENT GRANT WE PROPOSE TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECT OF LONG EXPOSURE TO ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENT ON COCAINE- AND ETHANOL- INDUCED BEHAVIOURAL SENSITIZATION AND ANALYZE WHETHER BDNF (BRAIN-DERIVED NEUROTROPHIC FACTOR) COULD BE MEDIATING THE EFFECTS OF ENRICHED ENVIRONMENT ON DRUG-RELATED BEHAVIOURAL CHANGES, THE REASONING THAT SUPPORTS OUR CURRENT PROPOSAL IS BASED ON THE FOLLOW PREMISES: FISRT, COMMON MECHANISMS OF SYNAPTIC PLASTICITY ARE INDUCED BY EXPERIENCE AND ADDICTIVE DRUGS; SECOND, MOLECULAR AND BEHAVIOURAL STUDIES SHOW THAT NEUROADAPTATIONS INDUCED BY DRUGS SEEMS TO IMPAIR THOSE INDUCED BY NATURAL ENRICHED EXPERIENCE, BUT THE OPPOSITE IS ALSO TRUE, BECAUSE EXPOSURE TO COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS MITIGATES SEVERAL DRUG EFFECTS; THIRD, ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENT UP-REGULATES BDNF IN SEVERAL BRAIN AREAS WHERE DRUGS ACT; FOURTH, ETHANOL INCREASE THE LEVELS OF BDNF THAT SEEMS TO ACT AS A NEGATIVE REGULATOR FOR ETHANOL EFFECTS, AS DEMONSTRATED BY DEFICIENT-BDNF MICE AND TRKB RECEPTOR ANTAGONISM STUDIES, IN WHICH AN INCREASE IN ETHANOL EFFECTS COULD BE OBSERVED; FINALLY, VERY RECENTLY, WE DESCRIBED THAT BEING REARED IN AN ENRICHED CONDITION PREVENTS ETHANOL-INDUCED SENSITIZATION IN MICE, FURTHER, WE OBSERVED HIGH SIGNIFICANT BUT INVERSE CORRELATIONS BETWEEN AN INDEX OF ETHANOL-INDUCED LOCOMOTOR SENSITIZATION AND THE NUMBER OF NEW PROLIFERATED CELLS (BRD-U+) INDUCED BY ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENT AT THE GRANULAR LAYER OF THE LOBULES IX AND X IN THE MOUSE VERMIS, IT IS NOTEWORTHY THAT CELLULAR PROLIFERATION DEPENDS ON BDNF LEVELS,ON BASE TO THE PREVIOUS EVIDENCE WE AIMED TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECTS OF EXPOSURE TO AN ENRICHED ENVIRONMENT ON ETHANOL- AND COCAINE-INDUCED SENSITIZATION AND BDNF RELATED MODIFICATIONS IN TWO EXPOSURE SETTINGS: WHEN DRUGS ARE ADMINISTERED UNDER ENRICHED OR STANDARD HOUSING CONDITIONS VERSUS WHEN DRUGS ARE ADMINISTERED AFTER THE PERIOD OF ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHEMENT IS FINISHED, MOREOVER, TO BE ABLE TO ESTABLISH CAUSAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN OUR MANIPULATIONS AND THE BDNF MODIFICATIONS, WE ARE INTERESTED IN THE STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF ENRICHED ENVIRONMENT ON ETHANOL- AND COCAINE-INDUCE LOCOMOTOR SENSITIZATION AND BDNF MODIFICATIONS IN BDNF-DEFICIENT MICE, WE SUGGEST AS THE INITIAL HYPOTHESIS THAT TO BE REARED AND HOUSED IN A COMPLEX ENVIRONMENT WILL INTERACT IN A MANNER THAT PREVENT THE DEVELOPMENT OF COCAINE- AND ETHANOL-INDUCED SENSITIZATION, ALTHOUGH WE EXPECT THAT THE PREVENTION WILL BE MORE SIGNIFICANT IN THE RESULTS OF THE PHASES 1, WHEN DRUGS ARE ADMINISTERED UNDER THE ENRICHED CONDITION, ALSO, EXPOSURE TO A COMPLEX ENVIRONMENT WILL UP-REGULATE MRNA BDNF LEVELS AND PROTEIN EXPRESSION IN NAC AND CEREBELLUM AND MODIFY THE EFFECT OF ETHANOL AND COCAINE ON BDNF LEVELS AND PROTEIN EXPRESSION, FINALLY, IN BDNF-DEFIENCE MICE STUDIES WE EXPECT TO OBSERVE A REDUCTION IN THE EFFECTS OF ENRICHED CONDITION ON SENSITIZATION PREVENTION, Ambiente enriquecido\neuroplasticidad\alcohol\cocaina\sensibilización locomotora\BDNF\ratones