Histone modifications in cocaine, methamphetamine and opioids

Junzhe Cheng; Ziping He; Qianqian Chen; Jiang Lin; Yilin Peng; Jinlong Zhang; Xisheng Yan; Jie Yan; Shuliang Niu

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16407

Histone modifications in cocaine, methamphetamine and opioids

Heliyon. 2023 May 19;9(6):e16407. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16407. eCollection 2023 Jun.

Authors

Junzhe Cheng^{1

2}, Ziping He^{1

2}, Qianqian Chen¹, Jiang Lin¹, Yilin Peng¹, Jinlong Zhang^{1

3}, Xisheng Yan⁴, Jie Yan^{1

3}, Shuliang Niu^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Forensic Science, School of Basic Medical Science, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410013, China.
² Clinical Medicine Eight-Year Program, Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
³ Department of Human Anatomy, School of Basic Medical Science, Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, 830001, China.
⁴ Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Wuhan Third Hospital & Tongren Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei Province, 430074, China.

Abstract

Cocaine, methamphetamine and opioids are leading causes of drug abuse-related deaths worldwide. In recent decades, several studies revealed the connection between and epigenetics. Neural cells acquire epigenetic alterations that drive the onset and progress of the SUD by modifying the histone residues in brain reward circuitry. Histone modifications, especially acetylation and methylation, participate in the regulation of gene expression. These alterations, as well as other host and microenvironment factors, are associated with a serious of negative neurocognitive disfunctions in various patient populations. In this review, we highlight the evidence that substantially increase the field's ability to understand the molecular actions underlying SUD and summarize the potential approaches for SUD pharmacotherapy.

Keywords: Cocaine; Histone modifications; Methamphetamine; Opioids; Pharmacotherapy; Substance use disorder.

Publication types

Review