Astrocytes: the neglected stars in the central nervous system and drug addiction

Wenjun Chen; Shiqiu Meng; Ying Han; Jie Shi

doi:10.1515/mr-2022-0006

Astrocytes: the neglected stars in the central nervous system and drug addiction

Med Rev (2021). 2022 Jun 29;2(4):417-426. doi: 10.1515/mr-2022-0006. eCollection 2022 Aug.

Authors

Wenjun Chen¹, Shiqiu Meng¹, Ying Han¹, Jie Shi^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ National Institute on Drug Dependence and Beijing Key Laboratory of Drug Dependence, Peking University, Beijing, China.
² The State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China.
³ The Key Laboratory for Neuroscience of the Ministry of Education and Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China.

Abstract

With the advent of improved tools to examine the astrocytes, which have been believed to play a supportive role in the central nervous system (CNS) for years, their participation in the operation of the CNS and drug addiction was unveiled. Assisting the formation and function of the CNS, astrocytes are involved in physiological and pathological brain activities. Drug addiction is a pervasive psychiatric disorder, characterized by compulsive drug-taking behavior and high rate of relapse, impacting individual health and society stability and safety. When exposed to drugs of abuse, astrocytes go through a series of alterations, contributing to the development of addiction. Here we review how astrocytes contribute to the CNS and drug addiction. We hope that understanding the interaction between addictive drugs and astrocytes may help discover new mechanisms underlying the addiction and produce novel therapeutic treatments.

Keywords: astrocytes; central nervous system; drug addiction; synaptic plasticity.

Publication types

Review