Interfering with reconsolidation by rimonabant results in blockade of heroin-associated memory

Jiang Lin; Yilin Peng; Jinlong Zhang; Junzhe Cheng; Qianqian Chen; Binbin Wang; Yuhang Liu; Shuliang Niu; Jie Yan

doi:10.3389/fphar.2024.1361838

Interfering with reconsolidation by rimonabant results in blockade of heroin-associated memory

Front Pharmacol. 2024 Mar 21:15:1361838. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1361838. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Jiang Lin^#¹, Yilin Peng^#¹, Jinlong Zhang^{1

2}, Junzhe Cheng^{1

3}, Qianqian Chen¹, Binbin Wang¹, Yuhang Liu¹, Shuliang Niu^{1

4}, Jie Yan¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Forensic Science, School of Basic Medical Science, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
² Department of Forensic Science, School of Basic Medical Science, Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, China.
³ Clinical Medicine Eight-Year Program, Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
⁴ Department of Anatomy, School of Basic Medical Science, Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Drug-associated pathological memory remains a critical factor contributing to the persistence of substance use disorder. Pharmacological amnestic manipulation to interfere with drug memory reconsolidation has shown promise for the prevention of relapse. In a rat heroin self-administration model, we examined the impact of rimonabant, a selective cannabinoid receptor indirect agonist, on the reconsolidation process of heroin-associated memory. The study showed that immediately administering rimonabant after conditioned stimuli (CS) exposure reduced the cue- and herion + cue-induced heroin-seeking behavior. The inhibitory effects lasted for a minimum of 28 days. The effect of Rimonabant on reduced drug-seeking was not shown when treated without CS exposure or 6 hours after CS exposure. These results demonstrate a disruptive role of rimonabant on the reconsolidation of heroin-associated memory and the therapeutic potential in relapse control concerning substance use disorder.

Keywords: heroin-associated memory; heroin-seeking; reconsolidation; relapse; rimonabant.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 82171494 and 82060339).