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Pro- and Anti-Addictive Neurotrophic Factors and Cytokines in Psychostimulant Addiction: Mini Review
aLaboratory of Neuropsychopharmacology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa 920-0934, Japan bDepartment of Neuropsychopharmacology and Hospital Pharmacy, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya 466-8560, Japan
Address for correspondence: Toshitaka Nabeshima, Ph.D., Department of Neuropsychopharmacology and Hospital Pharmacy, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8560, Japan. Voice: +81-52-744-2674; fax: +81-52-744-2682. tnabeshi{at}med.nagoya-u.ac.jp Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1025: 198-204 (2004).
Drug addiction is defined as a chronically relapsing disorder that is characterized by compulsive drug taking, inability to limit the intake, and intense drug craving. While the positive reinforcing effects of psychostimulants such as cocaine and amphetamines depend on the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system innervating nucleus accumbens, chronic drug exposure causes stable changes in the structure and function of the brain that may underlie the long-lived behavioral abnormalities in drug addiction. Recent evidence has suggested that various neurotrophic factors and cytokines are involved in the effects of psychomotor stimulants, suggesting that these factors play a role in drug addiction. In this article, a role of neurotrophic factors and cytokines in psychostimulant addiction is discussed.
Key Words: cocaine amphetamine methamphetamine synaptic plasticity This article has been cited by other articles:
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