Impairment of the GABAergic system in the anterior insular cortex of heroin-addicted males.
Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci
; 2024 Jul 09.
Article
de En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38980335
ABSTRACT
Opioid addiction is a global problem, causing the greatest health burden among drug use disorders, with opioid overdose deaths topping the statistics of fatal overdoses. The multifunctional anterior insular cortex (AIC) is involved in inhibitory control, which is severely impaired in opioid addiction. GABAergic interneurons shape the output of the AIC, where abnormalities have been reported in individuals addicted to opioids. In these neurons, glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) with its isoforms GAD 65 and 67 is a key enzyme in the synthesis of GABA, and research data point to a dysregulation of GABAergic activity in the AIC in opioid addiction. Our study, which was performed on paraffin-embedded brains from the Magdeburg Brain Bank, aimed to investigate abnormalities in the GABAergic function of the AIC in opioid addiction by densitometric evaluation of GAD 65/67-immunostained neuropil. The study showed bilaterally increased neuropil density in layers III and V in 13 male heroin-addicted males compared to 12 healthy controls, with significant U-test P values for layer V bilaterally. Analysis of confounding variables showed that age, brain volume and duration of formalin fixation did not confound the results. Our findings suggest a dysregulation of GABAergic activity in the AIC in opioid addiction, which is consistent with experimental data from animal models and human neuroimaging studies.
Texte intégral:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Base de données:
MEDLINE
Langue:
En
Journal:
Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci
/
Eur. arch. psychiatr. clin. neurosci
/
European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience
Sujet du journal:
NEUROLOGIA
/
PSIQUIATRIA
Année:
2024
Type de document:
Article
Pays d'affiliation:
Suisse
Pays de publication:
Allemagne