Sexually Dimorphic Neuroimmune Response to Chronic Opioid Treatment and Withdrawal.

Sexually Dimorphic Neuroimmune Response to Chronic Opioid Treatment and Withdrawal. Neuropharmacology. 2021 Jan 21;:108469 Authors: Kumar M, Rainville JR, Williams K, Lile JA, Hodes GE, Vassoler FM, Turner JR Abstract Opioid use disorder is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Increasing pre-clinical and clinical evidence demonstrates sex differences in opioid use and dependence. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms contributing to these effects, including neuroinflammation, are still obscure. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the effect of oxycodone exposure and withdrawal on sex- and region-specific neuroimmune response. Real-time PCR and multiplex cytokine array analysis demonstrated elevated neuroinflammation with increased pro-inflammatory cytokine levels, and aberrant oligodendroglial response in reward neurocircuitry, following withdrawal from chronic oxycodone treatment. Chronic oxycodone and withdrawal treated male mice had lower mRNA expression of TMEM119 along with elevated protein levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines/chemokines and growth factors (IL-1β, IL-2, IL-7, IL-9, IL-12, IL-15, IL17, M-CSF, VEGF) in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) as compared to their female counterparts. In contrast, reduced levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines/chemokines (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-9, IL-12, CCL11) was observed in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) of oxycodone and withdrawal-treated males as compared to ...
Source: Neuropharmacology - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Tags: Neuropharmacology Source Type: research