Positive Allosteric Modulation of α5-GABAA Receptors Reverses Stress-Induced Alterations in Dopamine System Function and Prepulse Inhibition of Startle

Alexandra M. McCoy, Thomas D. Prevot, Md Yenus Mian, James M. Cook, Alan Frazer, Etienne L. Sibille, Flavia R. Carreno, Daniel J. Lodge

Producción científica: Articlerevisión exhaustiva

6 Citas (Scopus)

Resumen

Background: Up to 64% of patients diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) experience psychosis, likely attributable to aberrant dopamine neuron activity. We have previously demonstrated that positive allosteric modulators of α5-GABAARs can selectively decrease hippocampal activity and reverse psychosis-like physiological and behavioral alterations in a rodent model used to study schizophrenia; however, whether this approach translates to a PTSD model remains to be elucidated. Methods: We utilized a 2-day inescapable foot shock (IS) procedure to induce stress-related pathophysiology in male Sprague-Dawley rats. We evaluated the effects of intra-ventral hippocampus (vHipp) administration GL-II-73, an α5-GABAAR, or viral overexpression of the α5 subunit, using in vivo electrophysiology and behavioral measures in control and IS-treated rats. Results: IS significantly increased ventral tegmental area dopamine neuron population activity, or the number of dopamine neurons firing spontaneously (n = 6; P = .016), consistent with observation in multiple rodent models used to study psychosis. IS also induced deficits in sensorimotor gating, as measured by reduced prepulse inhibition of startle (n = 12; P= .039). Interestingly, intra-vHipp administration of GL-II-73 completely reversed IS-induced increases in dopamine neuron population activity (n = 6; P= .024) and deficits in prepulse inhibition (n = 8; P= .025), whereas viral overexpression of the α5 subunit in the vHipp was not effective. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that pharmacological intervention augmenting α5-GABAAR function, but not α5 overexpression in itself, can reverse stress-induced deficits related to PTSD in a rodent model, providing a potential site of therapeutic intervention to treat comorbid psychosis in PTSD.

Idioma originalEnglish (US)
Páginas (desde-hasta)688-698
Número de páginas11
PublicaciónInternational Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
Volumen25
N.º8
DOI
EstadoPublished - ago 1 2022

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Medicine

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