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Prelimbic cortex glucocorticoid receptors regulate the stress-mediated inhibition of pain contagion in male mice.

ABSTRACT: Experiencing pain with a familiar individual can enhance one's own pain sensitivity, a process known as pain contagion. When experiencing pain with an unfamiliar individual, pain contagion is suppressed in males by activating the endocrine stress response. Here, we coupled a histological investigation with pharmacological and behavioral experiments to identify enhanced glucocorticoid receptor activity in the prelimbic subdivision of the medial prefrontal cortex as a candidate mechanism for suppressing pain contagion in stranger mice. Acute inhibition of glucocorticoid receptors in the prelimbic cortex was sufficient to elicit pain contagion in strangers, while their activation prevented pain contagion in cagemate dyads. Slice physiology recordings revealed enhanced excitatory transmission in stranger mice, an effect that was reversed by pre-treating mice with the corticosterone synthesis inhibitor metyrapone. Following removal from dyadic testing, stranger mice displayed enhanced affective-motivational pain behaviors when placed on an inescapable thermal stimulus, which were reversed by metyrapone. Together, our data suggest that the prelimbic cortex may play an integral role in modulating pain behavior within a social context and provide novel evidence towards the neural mechanism underlying the prevention of pain contagion.

SUBMITTER: Lidhar NK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8115346 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Prelimbic cortex glucocorticoid receptors regulate the stress-mediated inhibition of pain contagion in male mice.

Lidhar Navdeep K NK Darvish-Ghane Soroush S Sivaselvachandran Sivaani S Khan Sana S Wasif Fatima F Turner Holly H Sivaselvachandran Meruba M Fournier Neil M NM Martin Loren J LJ

Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology 20201123 6

Experiencing pain with a familiar individual can enhance one's own pain sensitivity, a process known as pain contagion. When experiencing pain with an unfamiliar individual, pain contagion is suppressed in males by activating the endocrine stress response. Here, we coupled a histological investigation with pharmacological and behavioral experiments to identify enhanced glucocorticoid receptor activity in the prelimbic subdivision of the medial prefrontal cortex as a candidate mechanism for suppr ...[more]

PMID: 33223518

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Project description:BackgroundClinical reports suggest that rather than directly driving cocaine use, stress may create a biological context within which other triggers for drug use become more potent. We hypothesize that stress-induced increases in corticosterone "set the stage" for relapse by promoting endocannabinoid-induced attenuation of inhibitory transmission in the prelimbic cortex (PL).MethodsWe have established a rat model for these stage-setting effects of stress. In this model, neither a stressor (electric footshock) nor stress-level corticosterone treatment alone reinstates cocaine seeking following self-administration and extinction, but each treatment potentiates reinstatement in response to an otherwise subthreshold cocaine priming dose (2.5 mg/kg, intraperitoneal). The contributions of endocannabinoid signaling in the PL to the effects of stress-level corticosterone on PL neurotransmission and cocaine seeking were determined using intra-PL microinfusions. Endocannabinoid-dependent effects of corticosterone on inhibitory synaptic transmission in the rat PL were determined using whole-cell recordings in layer V pyramidal neurons.ResultsCorticosterone application attenuated inhibitory synaptic transmission in the PL via cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1R)- and 2-arachidonoylglycerol-dependent inhibition of gamma-aminobutyric acid release without altering postsynaptic responses. The ability of systemic stress-level corticosterone treatment to potentiate cocaine-primed reinstatement was recapitulated by intra-PL injection of corticosterone, the CB1R agonist WIN 55,212-2, or the monoacylglycerol lipase inhibitor URB602. Corticosterone effects on reinstatement were attenuated by intra-PL injections of either the CB1R antagonist, AM251, or the diacylglycerol lipase inhibitor, DO34.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that stress-induced increases in corticosterone promote cocaine seeking by mobilizing 2-arachidonoylglycerol in the PL, resulting in CB1R-mediated attenuation of inhibitory transmission in this brain region.

Dataset Information

Prelimbic cortex glucocorticoid receptors regulate the stress-mediated inhibition of pain contagion in male mice.

Publications

Prelimbic cortex glucocorticoid receptors regulate the stress-mediated inhibition of pain contagion in male mice.

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