Brain Structure and Function

, Volume 223, Issue 4, pp 1829–1838 | Cite as

Adolescent cocaine exposure induces prolonged synaptic modifications in medial prefrontal cortex of adult rats

  • Wei Zhu
  • Xuhui Ge
  • Peng Gao
  • Min Li
  • Yun Guan
  • Xiaowei Guan
Original Article
First Online:
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Accepted:

Abstract

Substance used during adolescent period increases the risk of psychiatric disorders in later life, but the underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear. We hypothesize that synaptic remodeling and changes of homeostasis in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) following adolescent cocaine exposure may last for a long time, and these modifications may contribute to behavioral deficiencies in adulthood. To address this hypothesis, rats were exposed to cocaine hydrochloride from postnatal day 28 (P28) to P42. When reared to adulthood, rats were subjected to behavioral tests. On P75 and P76, cocaine-experienced rats exhibited increased locomotive and anxiety-like behaviors, as well as impaired non-selective attention. In the cocaine-experienced rats, both levels of synapse-related proteins (synapsin I and PSD-95) and density of synapse and dendrite spine in mPFC were significantly decreased when compared to controls. Unexpected, the expression of molecules related to oxidative stress, inflammation and apoptosis showed no significant changes in mPFC following adolescent cocaine exposure. These findings suggested that adolescent exposure to cocaine induce long-term modification on synapses in mPFC, which might contribute to long-term behavioral outcomes in adulthood.

Keywords

Cocaine Adolescent exposure Medial prefrontal cortex Synapse Dendrite spine Abnormal behaviors 
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Notes

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 81571303). We thank Prof. Gang Chen and Dr. Wenda Xue, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, China, for their assistance in behavioral tests.

Compliance with ethical standards

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  • Wei Zhu
    • 1
  • Xuhui Ge
    • 3
  • Peng Gao
    • 1
  • Min Li
    • 3
  • Yun Guan
    • 4
  • Xiaowei Guan
    • 1
    • 2
  1. 1.Department of Human Anatomy and Histoembryology, School of Medicine and Life SciencesNanjing University of Chinese MedicineNanjingChina
  2. 2.Key Laboratory of Drug Target and Drug for Degenerative Disease of JiangsuNanjing University of Chinese MedicineNanjingChina
  3. 3.Department of Human Anatomy, School of Basic MedicineNanjing Medical UniversityNanjingChina
  4. 4.Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care MedicineJohns Hopkins University School of MedicineBaltimoreUSA

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