UNASSIGNED: The transition from casual to compulsive drug use is thought to occur as a consequence of repeated drug taking leading to neuroadaptive changes in brain circuitry involved in emotion and cognition. At the basis of such neuroadaptations lie changes in the expression of immediate early genes (IEGs) implicated in transcriptional regulation, synaptic plasticity and intracellular signalling. However, little is known about how IEG expression patterns change during long-term drug self-administration. The present study, therefore, compares the effects of 10 and 60-day self-administration of @entity2072 and @entity969 on the expression of 17 IEGs in brain regions implicated in addictive behaviour, i.e. dorsal striatum, ventral striatum and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Increased expression after @entity2072 self-administration was found for 6 IEGs in dorsal and ventral striatum ( @entity1639 , @entity14520 , @entity12861 /  @entity12861 , @entity32854 , @entity19732 , and Arc) and 10 IEGs in mPFC (same 6 IEGs as in striatum, plus @entity2252 , @entity26398 , @entity15188 and @entity18232 ). Five of these 10 IEGs ( @entity32854 , @entity12861 /  @entity12861 , @entity2252 , @entity26398 and @entity1178 ) and @entity12715 in mPFC were responsive to long-term @entity969 self-administration. Importantly, no major differences were found between IEG expression patterns after 10 or 60   days of @entity2072 self-administration, except @entity12861 /  @entity12861 in dorsal striatum and @entity32854 in mPFC, whereas the amount of @entity2072 obtained per session was comparable for short-term and long-term self-administration. These steady changes in IEG expression are, therefore, associated with stable self-administration behaviour rather than the total amount of @entity2072 consumed. Thus, sustained impulses to IEG regulation during prolonged @entity2072 self-administration may evoke neuroplastic changes underlying compulsive drug use.

Stable immediate early gene expression patterns in medial prefrontal cortex and striatum after long-term XXXX self-administration.

@entity32854 :: ('1959', 'Gene') :: ['Egr2'] @entity12861 :: ('2354', 'Gene') :: ['Fosb'] @entity18232 :: ('5997', 'Gene') :: ['Rgs2'] @entity15188 :: ('6446', 'Gene') :: ['Sgk1'] @entity19732 :: ('1961', 'Gene') :: ['Egr4'] @entity969 :: ('MESH:D013395', 'Chemical') :: ['sucrose'] @entity2072 :: ('MESH:D003042', 'Chemical') :: ['cocaine'] @entity1639 :: ('2353', 'Gene') :: ['c-fos'] @entity14520 :: ('1843', 'Gene') :: ['Mkp1'] @entity2252 :: ('627', 'Gene') :: ['Bdnf'] @entity1178 :: ('3725', 'Gene') :: ['Jun'] @entity26398 :: ('9456', 'Gene') :: ['Homer1'] @entity12715 :: ('4915', 'Gene') :: ['Trkb']
@entity2072 :: (MESH:D003042,Chemical) :: ['cocaine']
