A New Epigenetic Brain Defense Against Recurrence of Opioid Use
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Loading... - James Smith
- 27 Feb 2023
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HDAC5, the “epigenetics” enzyme, plays a key role in limiting opioid-associated memories and drug-seeking behaviors following abstinence from drugs in rats. The findings provide a new avenue for the treatment of opioid addiction.
Substance use disorder (SUD) is an extremely difficult disorder to overcome, and many individuals with SUD return to regular use after repeated attempts to quit.
A return to regular drug use can be caused by the body’s physical dependence on the drug as well as experiences associated with prior drug use. Exactly how these drug associations are formed in the brain and how they trigger a return to drug use remain unclear.
“Individuals make long-lasting associations between the euphoric experience of the drug and the people, places and things associated with drug use,” said Christopher Cowan, Ph.D. professor in the Department of Neuroscience at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and member of the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation Scientific Council.
Cowan and his team report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that an enzyme known as histone deacetylase 5, or HDAC5, plays a significant role in limiting heroin-associated memories and drug-seeking behavior following a period of abstinence in rats.
The study reveals HDAC5 as a target of interest in treating vulnerability to return to drug use in opioid use disorder.
HDAC5 is an “epigenetic” enzyme, meaning it can influence the expression of many different genes. HDAC5 is active in the brain and has been associated previously with resumed cocaine use after a period of abstinence.
“In a prior study, we showed that HDAC5 is regulated by cocaine, and it reduces the impact of substance use triggers following cocaine use,” said Cowan. “In the new study, we wanted to learn why HDAC5 had these effects and if they were specific to cocaine or perhaps generalizable to other classes of addictive drugs, like opioids.” Read More…
