Sex differences in behavioral and brainstem transcriptomic neuroadaptations following neonatal opioid exposure in outbred mice
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ABSTRACT: The Opioid Use Disorder epidemic led to an increase in cases of Nenonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome (NOWS) in infants born to opioid-dependent mothers. Hallmark features include weight loss, irritability, inconsolability, insomnia, and increased pain sensitivity. The neurobiological basis of NOWS is largely unknown. Improved mouse models will facilitate mechanistic and treatment discovery. We treated neonatal outbred Cartworth Farms White (CFW) mice (Swiss Webster) with morphine sulfate (15 mg/kg, s.c.) twice daily on postnatal day (P)1 through P14, the approximate third trimester-equivalent of human gestation. Weight loss was monitored and behavioral symptoms were measured on P7 and P14 at 16 h post-morphine. Brainstem containing pons and medulla was collected on P14 and processed for transcriptome analysis via mRNA sequencing (RNA-seq). Morphine induced weight loss from P2 to P14 that remained at P21 and P50. Repeated morphine also induced a delayed self-righting latency at P4 and a persistent, female-specific delay at P14. Morphine-treated females also showed an earlier increase in ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) on P7. Both morphine-treated sexes showed a large increase in USVs on P14. Furthermore, thermal nociception via hot plate and tail withdrawal assays indicated that mice exhibited thermal hyperalgesia on P7 and P14, with females showing greater hyperalgesia (tail withdrawal) on P7. Morphine-treated mice also exhibited anxiety-like behavior at P21 (open field). Finally, brainstem transcriptome analysis identified a canonical gene set relevant to opioid signaling in males and a distinct gene set in females that was enriched for ribosomal proteins, mitochondrial function and neurodegenerative disorders. Sex-specific transcriptomic neuroadaptations implicate sex-specific treatments.
ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus
PROVIDER: GSE141066 | GEO | 2019/11/27
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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