Login Register Cart 0
Generic placeholder image

CNS & Neurological Disorders - Drug Targets

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN (Print): 1871-5273
ISSN (Online): 1996-3181

Back
Journal Home About Journal Editorial Board Journal Insight Current Issue Volumes/Issues
Subscribe
Perspective

Elucidating the Role of Trauma and Significant Life Stress in the Disease of Addiction may Provide New Targets for Medication Development

Author(s): Caroline E. Sagrera, Laura Alderman, M. Frances Vest, Nicholas E. Goeders and Kevin S. Murnane*

Volume 22, Issue 7, 2023

Published on: 27 August, 2022

Page: [946 - 949] Pages: 4

DOI: 10.2174/1871527321666220511145230

Abstract

The role of previous life stress and trauma in addiction has been understudied and underappreciated. To date, much previous research has emphasized other aspects of the disease of addiction, including the reward-based neural circuitry. While previous research has offered tremendous value and shaped human understanding of addiction, an increased emphasis on the role of stress and trauma in addiction may provide new targets for therapeutic development. Here, we review both clinical and preclinical literature in support of the hypothesis that addiction is largely initiated and driven by significant previous life stressors and traumas. We describe some of the available quantitative molecular in vitro studies, systematic literature reviews, case-control studies, and cross-sectional studies to summarize the neurobiology of the reward pathway, the influence of stress-related hormones on the brain, and the role of childhood trauma in the development of substance abuse. The current perspective highlights the importance of early intervention during stressful life events for the prevention of future addiction behavior and suggests that elucidating the neurobiology of these systems may provide new targets for medication development for addiction.

Keywords: Addiction, trauma, stress, reward pathway, dopamine, substance abuse, substance use disorder.

« Previous Next »
[1]
Goldman D, Oroszi G, Ducci F. The genetics of addictions: Uncovering the genes. Nat Rev Genet 2005; 6(7): 521-32.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nrg1635] [PMID: 15995696]
[2]
Grice DE, Brady KT, Dustan LR, Malcolm R, Kilpatrick DG. Sexual and physical assault history and posttraumatic stress disorder in substance‐dependent individuals. Am J Addict 1995; 4(4): 297-305.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1521-0391.1995.tb00268.x]
[3]
Schwandt ML, Heilig M, Hommer DW, et al. Childhood trauma exposure and alcohol dependence severity in adulthood: Mediation by emotional abuse severity and neuroticism HHS Public Access 2014; 37(6): 984-92.
[4]
Anda RF, Felitti VJ, Bremner JD, et al. The enduring effects of abuse and related adverse experiences in childhood. A convergence of evidence from neurobiology and epidemiology. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2006; 256(3): 174-86.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00406-005-0624-4] [PMID: 16311898]
[5]
Greenfield SF, Brooks AJ, Gordon SM, et al. Substance abuse treatment entry, retention, and outcome in women: A review of the literature. Drug Alcohol Depend 2007; 86(1): 1-21.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2006.05.012] [PMID: 16759822]
[6]
LeTendre ML, Reed MB. The effect of adverse childhood experience on clinical diagnosis of a substance use disorder: Results of a nationally representative study. Subst Use Misuse 2017; 52(6): 689-97.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2016.1253746] [PMID: 28145794]
[7]
Enoch M-A. The role of early life stress as a predictor for alcohol and drug dependence. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2011; 214(1): 17-31.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00213-010-1916-6] [PMID: 20596857]
[8]
Bremner JD. Traumatic stress: Effects on the brain. Dialogues Clin Neurosci 2006; 8(4): 445-61.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.31887/DCNS.2006.8.4/jbremner] [PMID: 17290802]
[9]
Timmermans S, Souffriau J, Libert C. A general introduction to glucocorticoid biology. Front Immunol 2019; 10: 1545.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2019.01545] [PMID: 31333672]
[10]
Goeders NE. The impact of stress on addiction. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 2003; 13(6): 435-41.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.euroneuro.2003.08.004] [PMID: 14636959]
[11]
Schultz W, Dayan P, Montague PR. A neural substrate of prediction and reward. Science 1997; 275(5306): 1593-9.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.275.5306.1593] [PMID: 9054347]
[12]
Loi B, Sahai MA, De Luca MA, Shiref H, Opacka-Juffry J. The role of dopamine in the stimulant characteristics of novel psychoactive substances (NPS)-neurobiological and computational assessment using the case of desoxypipradrol (2-DPMP). Front Pharmacol 2020; 11: 806.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2020.00806] [PMID: 32670057]
[13]
Solinas M, Goldberg SR, Piomelli D. The endocannabinoid system in brain reward processes. Br J Pharmacol 2008; 154(2): 369-83.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/bjp.2008.130] [PMID: 18414385]
[14]
Varazzani C, San-Galli A, Gilardeau S, Bouret S. Noradrenaline and dopamine neurons in the reward/effort trade-off: A direct electrophysiological comparison in behaving monkeys. J Neurosci 2015; 35(20): 7866-77.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0454-15.2015] [PMID: 25995472]
[15]
Seidemann R, Duek O, Jia R, Levy I, Harpaz-Rotem I. The reward system and post-traumatic stress disorder: Does trauma affect the way we interact with positive stimuli? Chronic Stress (Thousand Oaks) 2021; 5: 2470547021996006.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2470547021996006] [PMID: 33718742]
[16]
Logrip ML, Koob GF, Zorrilla EP. Role of corticotropin-releasing factor in drug addiction: Potential for pharmacological intervention. CNS Drugs 2011; 25(4): 271-87.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.2165/11587790-000000000-00000] [PMID: 21425881]
[17]
Sommer WH, Rimondini R, Hansson AC, et al. Upregulation of voluntary alcohol intake, behavioral sensitivity to stress, and amygdala crhr1 expression following a history of dependence. Biol Psychiatry 2008; 63(2): 139-45.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2007.01.010] [PMID: 17585886]
[18]
Overstreet DH, Knapp DJ, Breese GR. Modulation of multiple ethanol withdrawal-induced anxiety-like behavior by CRF and CRF1 receptors. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 2004; 77(2): 405-13.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pbb.2003.11.010] [PMID: 14751471]
[19]
Fosnocht AQ, Briand LA. Substance use modulates stress reactivity: Behavioral and physiological outcomes. Physiol Behav 2016; 166: 32-42.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2016.02.024] [PMID: 26907955]
[20]
Kwako LE, Spagnolo PA, Schwandt ML, et al. The corticotropin releasing hormone-1 (CRH1) receptor antagonist pexacerfont in alcohol dependence: A randomized controlled experimental medicine study. Neuropsychopharmacology 2015; 40(5): 1053-63.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/npp.2014.306] [PMID: 25409596]
[21]
Walter M, Bentz D, Schicktanz N, et al. Effects of cortisol administration on craving in heroin addicts. Transl Psychiatry 2015; 5(7): e610-0.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/tp.2015.101] [PMID: 26218852]
[22]
de Quervain DJ-F, Aerni A, Schelling G, Roozendaal B. Glucocorticoids and the regulation of memory in health and disease. Front Neuroendocrinol 2009; 30(3): 358-70.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yfrne.2009.03.002] [PMID: 19341764]
[23]
Chen SQ, Zhai HF, Cui YY, Shi J, Le Foll B, Lu L. Clonidine attenuates morphine withdrawal and subsequent drug sensitization in rhesus monkeys. Acta Pharmacol Sin 2007; 28(4): 473-83.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-7254.2007.00526.x] [PMID: 17376286]
[24]
Fox HC, Anderson GM, Tuit K, et al. Prazosin effects on stress- and cue-induced craving and stress response in alcohol-dependent individuals: Preliminary findings. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2012; 36(2): 351-60.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1530-0277.2011.01628.x] [PMID: 21919922]
[25]
Washington (DC): US Department of Health and Human Services. Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health. In: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (US) & Office of the Surgeon General (US) . 2016.

Rights & Permissions Print Cite
Article Metrics
3
© 2024 Bentham Science Publishers | Privacy Policy