Indomethacin blocks the increased conditioned rewarding effects of cocaine induced by repeated social defeat

PLoS One. 2018 Dec 17;13(12):e0209291. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0209291. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

It is well established that repeated social defeat stress can induce negative long-term consequences such as increased anxiety-like behavior and enhances the reinforcing effect of psychostimulants in rodents. In the current study, we evaluated how the immune system may play a role in these long-term effects of stress. A total of 148 OF1 mice were divided into different experimental groups according to stress condition (exploration or social defeat) and pre-treatment (saline, 5 or 10 mg/kg of the anti-inflammatory indomethacin) before each social defeat or exploration episode. Three weeks after the last social defeat, anxiety was evaluated using an elevated plus maze paradigm. After this test, conditioned place preference (CPP) was induced by a subthreshold dose of cocaine (1 mg/kg). Biological samples were taken four hours after the first and the fourth social defeat, 3 weeks after the last defeat episode, and after the CPP procedure. Plasma and brain tissue (prefrontal cortex, striatum and hippocampus) were used to determine the levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin 6 (IL-6). Results showed an increase of peripheral and brain IL-6 levels after the first and fourth social defeat that was reverted three weeks later. Intraperitoneal administration of the anti-inflammatory drug indomethacin before each episode of stress prevented this enhancement of IL-6 levels and also reversed the increase in the rewarding effects of cocaine in defeated mice. Conversely, this protective effect was not observed with respect to the anxiogenic consequences of social stress. Our results confirm the hypothesis of a modulatory proinflammatory contribution to stress-induced vulnerability to drug abuse disorders and highlight anti-inflammatory interventions as a potential therapeutic tool to treat stress-related addiction disorders.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / pharmacology*
  • Anxiety / immunology
  • Brain / drug effects
  • Brain / immunology
  • Cocaine / pharmacology*
  • Cocaine-Related Disorders / drug therapy
  • Cocaine-Related Disorders / immunology
  • Conditioning, Psychological / drug effects
  • Conditioning, Psychological / physiology
  • Dominance-Subordination
  • Exploratory Behavior
  • Indomethacin / pharmacology*
  • Interleukin-6 / metabolism
  • Mice
  • Psychotropic Drugs / pharmacology*
  • Random Allocation
  • Reward*
  • Stress, Psychological / immunology

Substances

  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal
  • Interleukin-6
  • Psychotropic Drugs
  • interleukin-6, mouse
  • Cocaine
  • Indomethacin

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO), Dirección General de Investigación, PSI2014-51847-R and PSI 2017-83023-R; Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Red de Trastornos Adictivos (RTA) (RETICS RD12/0028/0005 and RD16/0017/0007) and Unión Europea, Fondos FEDER “A way to build Europe”. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.