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Monday, October 26, 2009

Glycine Receptors Involved in Acamprosate's Modulation of Accumbal Dopamine Levels: An In Vivo Microdialysis Study
Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research Early View 23 Oct 2009

Glycine receptors (GlyRs) in the nucleus accumbens (nAc) and nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) have been suggested to be involved in the positive reinforcing and dopamine elevating effects of ethanol. Recent studies have also shown that ethanol high-preferring rats substantially decrease their ethanol intake when treated with a glycine transporter 1 inhibitor (ORG 25935). Acamprosate, a drug used for relapse prevention in treatment of alcohol dependence, has also been demonstrated to elevate extracellular dopamine levels in the nAc. However, the underlying mechanism of action of acamprosate is not fully understood.

Here we investigated whether acamprosate interferes with a neuronal circuitry that previously has been demonstrated to be involved in the dopamine elevating effects of ethanol and taurine.

These results suggest that both systemic and local application of acamprosate elevate extracellular dopamine levels in the nAc by activating accumbal GlyRs, and, secondarily, tegmental nAChRs.


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