Chronic alcohol disrupts glutamatergic synaptic plasticity of hypothalamic parvocellular neurosecretory cells, and hormonal as well as behavioral responses to repeated stress

The chronic inability of alcoholics to effectively cope with relapse-inducing stressors has been linked to a dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) signaling. However, the cellular mechanisms underlying the dysregulation of the HPA axis response to stress in alcohol dependence are yet to be identified. Using whole-cell patch-clamp recordings, we showed that stress induces a CRF-dependent depression of NMDAR function in parvocellular neurosecretory cells (PNCs) in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN), which allows for short-term potentiation (STP) of AMPAR-mediated evoked excitatory postsynaptic currents (eEPSCs) following high-frequency stimulation (HFS, 100Hz for 1sec, x4).

Source: Alcohol - May 1, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: V.N. Marty, Y. Mulpuri, D.H. Terry, M. Pempe ña, S. Yee, I. Spigelman Source Type: research