Transcriptional profiling reveals differential changes in the respective expression of oxytocin and CART mRNA levels in the nucleus accumbens and dorsal striatum of compulsive methamphetamine taking rats (nucleus accumbens)

Methamphetamine addiction is mimicked in rats that self-administer the drug and accelerate their intake when given long access to it. Self-administration (SA) models do not include adverse consequences that are necessary to reach a diagnosis of addiction in humans. Here, we studied transcriptional consequences of methamphetamine SA and repeated foot-shocks in rat brain. Six rats from each of the 3 groups including control, shock resistant, and shock sensitive and three rats from each of 2 groups including saline yoked to shock resistant and saline yoked to shock sensitive were selected based on RNA quality and integrity for RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays.

通过对大鼠进行药物自身给药，并在长期给药后提升其药物摄入速率，可模拟人类甲基苯丙胺（Methamphetamine）成瘾行为。自身给药（Self-administration, SA）模型未包含人类成瘾诊断所需的不良后果。本研究针对大鼠脑部在甲基苯丙胺自身给药联合反复足底电击后的转录组变化展开分析。本研究依据RNA质量与完整性，从3个实验组（对照组、抗电击组、电击敏感组，每组各6只大鼠）以及2个配对生理盐水给药组（分别与抗电击组、电击敏感组配对，每组各3只大鼠）中筛选样本，用于RNA提取及Affymetrix基因芯片杂交实验。