Cited by 177Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on BehaviorNeuroscience and Neuropharmacology ResearchNeuropeptides and Animal Physiology

Baclofen Inhibits Heroin Self-Administration Behavior and Mesolimbic Dopamine Release

Xi, Zheng-Xiong, Stein, Elliot A.·1999·The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics

Abstract

An emerging hypothesis to explain the mechanism of heroin-induced positive reinforcement states that opiates inhibit gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic interneurons within the mesocorticolimbic dopamine (DA) system to disinhibit DA neurons. In support of this hypothesis, we report that the development of heroin self-administration (SA) behavior in drug-naive rats and the maintenance of SA behavior in heroin-trained rats were both suppressed when the GABA(B) receptor agonist baclofen was coadministered with heroin. Microinjections of baclofen into the ventral tegmental area (VTA), but not the nucleus accumbens, decreased heroin reinforcement as indicated by a compensatory increase in SA behavior. Additionally, baclofen administered alone or along with heroin dose-dependently reduced heroin-induced DA release. This effect was blocked partially by intra-VTA infusion of the GABA(B) antagonist 2-hydroxysaclofen, suggesting an additional, perhaps GABA(A) receptor-mediated, disinhibitory effect. Taken together, these experiments, for the first time, demonstrate that heroin-reinforced SA behavior and nucleus accumbens DA release are mediated predominantly by GABA(B) receptors in the VTA and suggest that baclofen may be an effective agent in the treatment of opiate abuse.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/s0022-3565(24)35044-x

Cites

40 of 40 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Xi, Z.-X., & Stein, E. A.
Affiliations
Medical College of Wisconsin (US)
Venue
The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
1999-09
Volume
290
Issue
3
Pages
1369-1374
ISSN
0022-3565 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2164726829
Cited by
177
References
40
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 7
FWCI
4.34
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed
Funders
National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA009465, DA 09465)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuropeptides and Animal Physiology
Keywords
baclofen, heroin self-administration, GABAB receptors, mesolimbic dopamine system, ventral tegmental area, nucleus accumbens, GABAergic interneurons, disinhibition, 2-hydroxysaclofen, GABAA receptor
MeSH terms
Animals, Baclofen, Behavior, Animal, Heroin, Dopamine, Electrodes, Limbic System, Male, Mesencephalon, Narcotic Antagonists, Narcotics, Nucleus Accumbens, Self Administration, Rats, Sprague-Dawley, Ventral Tegmental Area, GABA Agonists, Substance-Related Disorders, Rats

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review