Opioid Abuse after Traumatic Brain Injury: Evaluation Using Rodent Models
Abstract
The goal of this project is to evaluate the hypothesis that traumatic brain injury induces alterations in the brain s reward circuitry which may make an injured brain more susceptible to the rewarding effects of opioids. We are currently conducting experiments to evaluate the hypothesis that TBI causes changes in the analgesic response to opioids following acute and repeated drug administration. We are secondly in the midst of testing the hypothesis that moderate TBI increases the susceptibility for opioid abuse as measured by an alteration in the rewarding properties of oxycodone. We have completed the first year of experimentation and thus far have found that the mean duration of transient unconsciousness in the animals that received TBI is consistent with a moderate injury. A trend toward increased tail withdrawal latencies was observed in the TBI group, but the number of animals per group is yet not sufficient for complete analysis. We have also observed a trend for differences between potency of oxycodone administration between TBI and sham rats. Trends for between group differences were also seen in self-administration experiments. All studies are on-going.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA609949
Entities
People
- Katherine L. Nicholson
Organizations
- Virginia Commonwealth University