Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

July 09, 2024

11/07/2024

Researchers identify brain region involved in oxycodone relapse Study by Scripps Research scientists suggests future therapies for opioid and alcohol addiction.

July 09, 2024

LA JOLLA, CA Even years after they have recovered, a person who once struggled with alcohol or opioid addiction can relapse and that relapse is more likely to occur during particularly stressful times. Now, Scripps Research scientists have identified an area of the brain that plays a key role in stress-induced oxycodone relapse. Their findings explain why the drug suvorexant, which they previously found to reduce alcohol and oxycodone relapse when administered orally, works so well.

Having a better understanding of the region(s) in the brain responsible for this kind of relapse is incredibly important as we develop treatments for alcohol use disorder and opioid use disorder, says Scripps Research Associate Professor Remi Martin-Fardon, PhD, senior author of the study published in Journal of Psychopharmacology.

Alcohol use disorder includes chronic heavy alcohol use and binge drinking, while opioid use disorder is the chronic use of opioids that causes significant distress or impairment. Both disorders are considered major public health concerns and affect millions of people a year.

Recently, Martin-Fardon's team showed that when alcohol-dependent rats were given the drug suvorexant (Belsomra ), they drank less alcohol and were less likely to experience stress-induced relapse. Similar experiments suggested that it also could prevent opioid relapse elicited by drug-associated cues.

Suvorexant blocks the neuronal signaling chemical orexin. But orexin acts on the brain in multiple ways, and the researchers wanted to better understand which areas of the brain and molecular pathways were responsible for suvorexant's effect on relapse.

In the new study, the researchers focused on opioid-dependent rats that had learned to press a lever to receive oxycodone but then were abstinent from the opioid for at least 8 days.

Then, the researchers developed a system to expose only one small area of the rats' brains, known as the posterior paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (pPVT), to suvorexant, rather than giving the drug orally which exposes the entire brain to the drug. The pPVT has been previously shown to play a role in stress, eating and drinking. They found that opioid-dependent rats who were exposed to stress and exposed to suvorexant in the pPVT, pressed the opioid-delivering lever less than half as many times as untreated rats. This diminished drug-seeking behavior, even in the face of stress, showed that suvorexant's ability to prevent relapse was due to its action on orexin signaling in the pPVT.

In the past, there has been a lot of focus on the role of other areas of the brain in stress-induced relapse, says Jessica Illenberger, a postdoctoral research fellow at Scripps Research and first author of the new paper. Our work really points the finger at the pPVT, as well as orexin signaling in that brain region, as being important in stress processing and drug-seeking behavior.

Importantly, when the animals were given sweetened condensed milk instead of oxycodone, or when they were reintroduced to drug-associated cues instead of stress, suvorexant in the pPVT did not change their behavior. This suggests that stress-induced oxycodone relapse is mediated by different molecular drivers than stress-induced sugar cravings or other types of oxycodone relapse.

Relapse is a huge problem for people with opioid use disorder and alcohol use disorder and this gets us one step closer to identifying the proper types of treatment to reduce the risk of relapse, says Illenberger.

The team is now carrying out similar experiments in animal models to determine whether suvorexant also acts through the pPVT in cases of alcohol dependence.

In addition to Martin-Fardon and Illenberger, authors of the study, Pivotal role of orexin signaling in the posterior paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus during the stress-induced reinstatement of oxycodone-seeking behavior, include Francisco Flores-Ramirez, Glenn Pascasio, Marissa Franco and Brandon Mendonsa of Scripps Research.

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (AA026999, AA028549, AA006420, T32 AA007456, DA053443).

Molecular and Cellular Biology Martin-Fardon, Remi
LINK: https://www.scripps.edu/news-and-events/press-room/2024/20240709-marti...
See more stories from scripps

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

01/04/2026

DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION

January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...

20/02/2026

CBS Baltimore Launches New AR/VR Studio

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

20/02/2026

IAB Tech Lab Opens Public Comment on Live Event Ad Playbook

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

20/02/2026

Study: Sports Programming on Major Streamers Up 52% YoY

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

20/02/2026

ESPN to launch Women's Sports Sundays

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

20/02/2026

Tegna, Seattle Kraken Extend Broadcast Deal

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

20/02/2026

Signiant Announces Customer Advisory Board

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

19/02/2026

CBC Navigates Multi-Zone Winter Olympics With Bilingual Production, Remote Studios, Custom Content Hubs

The Canadian rightsholder deploys its most complex' Olympics setup an ever,...

19/02/2026

Suite Studios Announces S3 Native File Streaming for Real-Time Media Workflows at Petabyte Scale

Suite Studios, a cloud-native platform that connects creative teams to their med...

19/02/2026

Guitar Center Named Official Music Gear Retailer and AV Integrator for Tennessee Titans' New Nissan Stadium

Guitar Center and the Tennessee Titans announce a first-of-its-kind partnership ...

19/02/2026

DAZN, Matchroom Boxing Sign Five-Year Deal to Extend Long-Standing Partnership

DAZN is reinforcing its leadership in global boxing through a new five-year deal with Matchroom Boxing in the United States and the United Kingdom. The deal ext...

19/02/2026

PTZOptics Launches Visual Reasoning Initiative, Partners with Moondream to Automate Video Decision-Making

PTZOptics announces the launch of its visual reasoning initiative that makes vid...

19/02/2026

The Influencer Games? OBS Bakes Digital-Native Content Creators - and Athletes - Into Milano Cortina

Influencer Positions, AI-driven vertical video, and platform-native creators res...

19/02/2026

Scaling the Infinite Feed: OBS Redefines the Multi-Platform Olympic Experience

Host broadcaster evolves from world-feed producer to global content orchestrator, unlocking hidden moments for every platform...

19/02/2026

Got Drones? How OBS's FPV Strategy Changes the Game for Everyone

Custom drones raise expectations for bringing viewers closer to the action in new ways 2026 is not the first time OBS has used drones or event First Person Vie...

19/02/2026

Xfinity Delivered Super Bowl LX Faster Than Any Other Provider

Comcast's Xfinity announces record-setting performance from its new RealTime4K technology during Super Bowl LX, delivering the game to customers' homes ...

19/02/2026

Cortina Sliding Center Photo Gallery: Women's Monobob

The Women's Monobob turned out to be a historic event: Team USA's Elana Meyers Taylor captured the gold at age 41, making her the oldest Bobsleigh gold ...

19/02/2026

SVG Students To Watch: Philip Doherty, Elon University

The senior from Georgia has found his calling as a technical director and video engineer In the live-sports-video industry, the future is bright. Our series SV...

19/02/2026

Cosm Expands its Leadership Team to Scale Its Sports and Entertainment Division

Cosm announces the appointment of two new leaders - Jeff Hughes (President, Sports and Entertainment) and Rob Laycock (Vice President, Head of Venues Marketing)...

19/02/2026

NBC Olympics Brings Its Signature Studio Look Home' to the IBC in Milan

Two main sets feature Unreal Engine environment, LED architecture, camera-tracked virtual windows; a third, in the TV Tower,' overlooks the Duomo...

19/02/2026

Watch Robyn's Long-Awaited Return to the Stage in Spotify's Exclusive Concert Film

Last November, Spotify hosted an unforgettable night with Robyn, where top fans ...

19/02/2026

Warner Bros. Discovery returns to position one in Poland for first time since May 2025

WBD edges above Polsat in only change in the top 10 content distributor rankings...

19/02/2026

Nielsen data shows Kiwis' love of travel drives 10% lift in ad investment

Airlines and cruise operators ramp up spend as New Zealanders plan, compare and book online Auckland, February 19, 2026 - New Nielsen Ad Intel data shows adver...

19/02/2026

The Gauge: Poland | January 2026

The beginning of the new year brought a clear revival in front of television screens. The winter aura meant that Poles spent an average of 5% more time watching...

19/02/2026

Sports programming on major streaming platforms surges 52% year-over-year, according to Gracenote

New data also shows news content on FAST channels up 58% as streaming catalogs c...

19/02/2026

Sinclair Launches New True Crime Daily Video Podcast

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

19/02/2026

Berklee Awards Fenway Neighborhood Improvement Grants to Six Organizations

Berklee Awards Fenway Neighborhood Improvement Grants to Six Organizations A total of $25,000 will be distributed among the Boston-based nonprofits. February...

19/02/2026

Submissions open for Best of Show Awards at NAB 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

19/02/2026

SMPTE Issues Call for Summit Papers

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

19/02/2026

Broadband Usage Jumps by 9.9% in Q4

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

19/02/2026

NBC Sports Details NEPs Extensive Work for Winter Olympic Coverage

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

19/02/2026

Fuse Media and Complex to Launch Complex TV

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

19/02/2026

Spincast Gets U.S. Patent for AI-Powered Shoppable TV

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

19/02/2026

IBCAP Announces $21 Million Lawsuit Against DMTN IPTV

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

19/02/2026

NRB Backs ATSC 3.0 Tuner and Must-Carry Requirements

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

19/02/2026

Foundry Acquires Griptape to Accelerate AI Integration Ac...

Foundry, the leading developer of creative software for the Media and Entertainment industry, today announced the completion of its acquisition of Griptape, a p...

19/02/2026

Scott D Smith Captures the Chaos and Intimacy of The Bear...

Capturing the raw energy and emotional intensity of FX's hit series The Bear is no small feat, especially when the set itself is as hectic and unpredictab...

19/02/2026

Cobalt Digital Products Receive IPMX Product Certificatio...

Cobalt Digital Inc., a leading designer and manufacturer of award-winning video and audio conversion, processing, and distribution solutions, and a founder of o...

19/02/2026

DHD to Demonstrate Latest-Generation Audio Production Sys...

DHD s complete range of digital audio mixers plus the latest-generation RM1 Pro broadcast-from-anywhere unit will be promoted at the upcoming Lokalradioforbunds...

19/02/2026

Media Companies Gain Operations Observability With Operat...

Operative, the preferred advertising management solution provider for the world's leading media brands, today announced a partnership with GraySwan to bring...

19/02/2026

Witbe Launches New Agentic SDK to Power Agentic Automatio...

Witbe today announced the launch of Agentic SDK, a new test automation framework designed to help video service providers build, operate, and scale agentic auto...

19/02/2026

Network18 Media and Investments Selects Grass Valleys Pla...

Grass Valley today announced that Network18 Media & Investments Ltd., one of India's largest and most influential media conglomerates, is deploying Grass Va...

19/02/2026

Clear-Com to Sponsor and Present USITT Stage Management A...

Clear-Com is sponsoring and presenting the USITT Stage Management Award during the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) Annual Conference & S...

19/02/2026

Paramores Hayley Williams Praises Berklee Ensemble: Make Noise

Paramores Hayley Williams Praises Berklee Ensemble: Make Noise Williams acknowledged the Paramore Ensemble after their show at the Berklee Performance Center ...

19/02/2026

TRIBECA ANNOUNCES NEW SLATE OF STAR-STUDDED MEMBERSHIP EVENTS FEATURING KATE MCKINNON AND TRACY MORGAN

February 19th, 2026 TRIBECA ANNOUNCES NEW SLATE OF STAR-STUDDED MEMBERSHIP EVEN...

19/02/2026

News Corp Announces Match for U.S. Government's $1,000 Contribution to Children's Investment Accounts

News Corp Announces Match for U.S. Government's $1,000 Contribution to Child...