Virus-Mediated shRNA Knockdown of Prodynorphin in the Rat Nucleus Accumbens Attenuates Depression-Like Behavior and Cocaine Locomotor Sensitization
Figure 6
Prodynorphin (Pdyn) knockdown in the NAcc attenuated cocaine sensitization.
Beam breaks in the locomotor chambers were transformed to area under the curve (AUC). A) shPdyn and shScr rats showed similar level of sensitization in their locomotor response to cocaine during the first 4 days of treatment, but shPdyn rats demonstrated a significant reduction in their cocaine-induced locomotion when tested 72 h later. B) There was a significant difference between the AUC data of the study groups on the last 2 test days, with AUC scores of the cocaine-treated shPdyn rats significantly lower than that of the cocaine-treated shScr rats and not different from the saline-treated shPdyn rats. N = 5–6, *p<0.05.