Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2011

Abstract

The present investigations sought to determine whether the ventral tegmental area (VTA), basolateral amygdala (BLA), and nucleus accumbens shell (NAC) comprise a circuitry that mediates heroin-induced conditioned immunomodulation. Rats were given conditioning trials in which they received an injection of heroin upon placement into a distinctive environment. Prior to testing, rats received unilateral intra-BLA microinfusion of a D1 antagonist concomitantly with unilateral intra-NAC shell microinfusion of an NMDA antagonist. Disconnection of the VTA–BLA–NAC circuit impaired the ability of the heroin-paired environment to suppress lipopolysaccharide-induced immune responses, defining for the first time a specific neural circuit involved in conditioned neural-immune interactions.

Comments

Originally published as:

Szczytkowski-Thomson, J. L., Fuchs, R. A., & Lysle, D. T. (2011). Ventral tegmental area-basolateral amygdala-nucleus accumbens shell neurocircuitry controls the expression of heroin-conditioned immunomodulation. Journal of Neuroimmunology, 237(1–2), 47–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneuroim.2011.06.002

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